


Is It Just Me Or Are We Soulmates?

by asianhero



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Minor Allura/Pidge | Katie Holt, Minor Character Death, Minor Hunk/Shay (Voltron), it gets a lil sad just saying, shance, shiro is a tour guide in japan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-06-14 08:50:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15385173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asianhero/pseuds/asianhero
Summary: Everyone in their life has a soulmate, whether you are romantically involved with them or it's just purely platonic. Some are lucky enough to have sweet first words to their soulmate, while others have... interesting marks. When Hunk gets invited by his school to travel across Asia, Lance tags along, not sure what he was getting into. He certainly didn't expect to find his soulmate, of all things.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I really love shance so that's why this is here :)
> 
> Also, a heads up, in this au you have your soulmates first words to you are printed on your wrist, and if your soulmate writes something on their arm (like notes) then you can see what they write

Lance sighed, staring at the watch on his wrist. He never like airports, he’d much rather go on a roadtrip than be stuck on a plane for several hours. Since Hunk’s school was sending him on a trip across Asia, Lance thought that he’d tag along. So far they’ve been to Thailand, where Hunk tried all the local street food while Lance went to hang out at the beach, and Korea, which both Hunk and lance enjoyed not only the cuisine, but also the karaoke bars. **  
**

Now they were headed to Japan, the one place that Lance was especially excited to go to. The trip there, however, was turning out to be a nightmare. When they arrived at the airport, Lance’s bag had to be checked because he forgot to throw away his water bottle. After apologizing profusely, they began to leave the checkpoint. As Hunk went to put away his boarding pass, he realized that his passport had mysteriously vanished. They eventually found it sitting at lost and found where they were told that a TSA agent had found it at the checkpoint. Now they were currently sitting at their gate, getting ready to board when an announcement rang over the intercom:

“Attention all passengers boarding flight number 291 to Tokyo, Japan, the flight is delayed due to weather conditions. Please stay tuned for more updates.”

Lance groaned, rubbing his face in frustration. He couldn’t picture a better ending to this awful day. Looking over at Hunk he laughed, causing the other boy to raise an eyebrow.

“What’s so funny?” Hunk asked.

“It’s just, so perfect,” Lance said, holding back his snickers, “We’ve had such a shitty day, and this is just the best ending,”

Hunk stared at him, dumbfounded, before dissolving into giggles himself. As the two calmed down, Hunk looked at his arm fondly. Lance looked down as well, watching the words appearing on Hunk’s arm in sloppy cursive. He wrinkled his nose.

“How can you even  _read_  that?” Lance asked, grabbing Hunk’s arm to inspect it closer.

Hunk laughed, pulling his arm away from him gently. “You get used to it eventually, besides,” he grabbed Lance’s arm, turning it so the writing on his arm was visible, “At least my soulmates handwriting is  _legible,_ ”

Lance gasped, pretending to be offended. “How dare you! My soulmate is perfect the way they are,”

Hunk rolled his eyes, letting the other boy pull his arm back. Smiling, he looked over at Lance, who was currently looking at the slightly smudged handwriting on his arm.

“Are you ready to meet your soulmate?”

Lance nodded his head, not looking up at him. “I’ve been ready for my entire life, I just hope that I meet them soon,” his smile wavering slightly, “I don’t think I can wait anymore,”

Hunk pulled his friend in close, giving him a hug. He looked over at the words that were printed right above the smudged scribbling on Lance’s wrist, snickering slightly. Lance looked at him, eyebrows furrowed.

“What are you laughing at?”

Hunk shook his head, smiling. “Your soul mark just makes me laugh,”

Looking down at his mark, he read the words that were carefully printed on his wrist:

_“So you’re the reason why I have the word ‘ass’ printed on my wrist?”_

Lance laughed along with Hunk. It was an unusual choice of words, but he believed that it would make his story more charming. Just as he was about to say something, a voice popped over the intercom:

“Attention all passengers on flight 291 to Tokyo, Japan, we will be delayed for two hours due to worsening conditions in Japan, sorry for the inconvenience.”

Lance picked his head up to look at Hunk, an exasperated look on his face, before slumping back down into his chair.

“Let’s get some McDonalds,”

* * *

After a tiring two hour flight and an hour long train ride, Lance was tired, to say the least. When they got to their hotel, Lance didn’t even bother to take his shoes off of set his luggage down, he just slumped down on one of the beds. Hunk huffed out a laugh, taking Lance’s suitcase and setting it down next to the table. Peering over at Hunk, Lance flopped over and let out a big sigh.

“I hope we’re not doing anything tomorrow, because all I want to do is  _sleep in,_ ”

Hunk looked at him sheepishly, causing him to let out a loud groan. Glaring at Hunk, he turned around and faced the wall away from him.

“Hey, we’re just going on a tour, I heard that the guide is really nice,”

Lance looked at him pointedly. “Is the guide my soulmate? No? Then I don’t care,”

Hunk sighed, clearly annoyed by Lance’s actions. “How are you ever gonna find your soulmate if you only stay in the room?” 

“I’m not! I just don’t see the point of going on a tour when we could just go and explore ourselves,”

Before Lance could formulate his argument further Hunk interrupted him:

“There’s a lot of reviews talking about how hot he is,”

Lance lit up at this, looking over at Hunk with curiosity. “Do you have pictures?”

Hunk rolled his eyes, a small smirk appearing on his face. “You can judge for yourself tomorrow,” 

Lance pouted slightly, trying to make Hunk feel guilty. It didn’t seem to work though, as Hunk left the room to take a shower. Before he left, he peered his head out from the bathroom.

“Just so you know, the tour starts at seven, so we’re waking up at six,”

Hunk shut the door, laughing as Lance threw his pillow at the door.

* * *

“Why did we need to wake up so early?” Lance asked, rubbing his eyes as they walked down the quiet streets of Tokyo.

Like Hunk promised, they woke up exactly at six, which gave Lance twenty minutes to wash off his face mask, take a shower, and do all of the things he does in the morning. He wasn’t even finished putting his contacts in when Hunk pushed him out the door, causing him to grab his glasses and grumble all the way out the door.

Walking around Tokyo in winter made Lance glad that he brought a heavy jacket, as he was sure he would certainly freeze without it. Looking over at his best friend he noticed Hunk reaching into his pockets to hand him something. Lance was about to reject when he noticed what they were: hand warmers. Graciously, he took them from his friend’s hand and placed them in his own as he shoved them into his pockets. Hunk smiled, rubbing his hands together before stuffing them back into his pockets. 

It was about a quarter until seven when they reached the meeting point, and only one person was standing there. Lance looked at Hunk, tilting his head.

“No one’s here, what was the point of getting up early?”

Hunk shrugged his shoulders. “So we can reserve our seats at the front of the bus.”

Lance held back his groan as they approached who they assumed to be the tour guide. When they got closer to the man Lance felt his cheeks slowly start to warm up. Not only were the reviews about this tour guide correct about him being hot, but they didn’t inform him  _how_  hot he would be.

Their tour guide was a muscular man who was well over six foot. He also had a strong jawline and beautiful brown eyes, which seemed to make him seem warmer in general. His bangs were white while the rest of it was black, although his hair was short and well kept. The last thing Lance noticed was the metallic arm, which he could only assume was freezing cold to the touch due to the weather. When the guide caught sight of the two, a bright smile pulled onto his face as he waved at them enthusiastically. As they were walking over to the tour guide Lance leaned over to Hunk, trying to act nonchalant but also not paying attention to where he was going.

“This guy is so fucking hot. I mean, have you seen his ass?”

Hunk closed his eyes before saying anything. “Hey Lance, you’re literally standing next to the guy,”

“WHAT?”

Lance flailed his arms in the air, promptly hitting his guide on the nose. Gasping, he looked over at the man who was currently holding his nose, but instead of yelling or getting upset, he looked at his wrist, then back at Lance. Before Lance could say anything the man interrupted:

“So you’re the reason why I have the word ‘ass’ printed on my wrist?” He said, amusement clear on his face, “Out of all the places, I didn’t expect to find you on one of my tours,”

Lance could feel his jaw physically dropping. He turned towards Hunk, excitement shining through. Hunk laughed, unable to hold it in any longer.

“Dude, I can’t believe you just hit your soulmate in the face,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated :)


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha wow this took a long time to get out but oh well at least it's here now

“Good morning everyone, I hope you had a good night’s sleep, because we’re going to have an active day!” Shiro said, holding onto the seat in front of him to keep him from falling. 

Lance smiled, too busy staring at Shiro rather than paying attention to what he was saying. Hunk rolled his eyes, shoving him slightly. Looking back at Shiro, he noticed that the guide had stopped talking and sat back down in his seat, writing something down. Lance looked down at his arm, smiling.

_ Were you even paying attention to anything I was saying? _

He pulled a pen out of his bag, a bashful smile on his face.

_ I was too distracted by your handsome face, so that’s your fault _

Lance felt his face heat up. Was it too soon to say that? Shiro  _ is  _ his soulmate, but did he want to take it slow? Before Lance could think of any other tragic scenarios, words were suddenly appearing on his arm.

_ Well your beautiful face made me mess up, so I’m glad you weren’t listening _

 

Lance laughed, putting his pen away as Hunk gave him a look. He looked at his friend.

“What?” Lance asked, smiling slightly.

Hunk giggled, looking at his lovestruck friend. “And you said you didn’t want to come,”

He scoffed, shoving Hunk back slightly. Smiling, Lance leaned against the window, letting himself drift off.

* * *

Lance woke up startled by the loud crackling sound of the intercom going off. Blinking a couple of times, he moved slightly so he could pay attention to Shiro, who was facing the rest of the group.

“Hello, since we’re nearing our first destination I thought that I’d tell you about the history,” he paused, glancing over at Lance sneakily, “But if you’re not interested, then just go back to sleep,”

Lance felt his face heat up slightly, shrinking into his seat a little more as some laughed at his sarcasm. Shiro must’ve seen him, as his smile seemed to grow wider. 

“Our first destination is the Sensō-ji temple. It was built in the year 645, and is considered to be Tokyo’s oldest temple. It’s said that two brothers were fishing in the Sumida River when they pulled up a Kannon statue, who is the goddess of mercy. They tried to put the statue back in the river, but it would always return, so they eventually built the temple next to the Kannon statue.”

Although Lance was entranced by Shiro’s voice, history was not one of his favorite things to learn about. He felt himself be lulled back to sleep as Shiro went on about the types of things to look out for in the temple. He could honestly listen to Shiro talk about anything and he would be relaxed. There was just something about his voice that made Lance feel so comfortable. Before Lance could doze off again, he felt the bus come to a halt, the brake squeaking slightly. 

“We have now arrived at the Sensō-ji temple. You guys will have about thirty minutes to go and explore. I would recommend that you check out the shops leading up to the temple and maybe check your fortune, it only costs 500 yen.”

Simultaneously, everyone unbuckled their seatbelts and exited the bus. Once Lance and Hunk exited, they caught a glimpse of all of the food stalls on either side of the street. Lance could practically  _ feel  _ the excitement rolling off of Hunk in waves. He didn’t bother trying to catch up with the exited foodie, instead he looked for their gorgeous tour guide. As if on cue, Shiro walked over to Lance, his bright smile still on his face.

“Hey, where’s your friend?” He asked, his head tilted slightly.

Lance rolled his eyes playfully. “The guy took one look at the food stalls and got excited, I thought that I’d let him have his fun,”

Shiro nodded his head in understanding. Smiling, he offered his hand to the other boy. “Well, how about I show you around and we can get to know each other better.”

Lance grinned, taking Shiro’s hand a little too eagerly, causing him to laugh lightly. 

“Where to, tour guide?”

* * *

Shiro took Lance to almost all of the stalls that were scattered around. It was helpful to have Shiro around since he could speak the native language. Lance couldn’t help but feel mesmerized when Shiro spoke Japanese. He just was impressed that he could speak two languages fluently and not stumble as much. Lance could barely speak two, and even then he fumbles with the words.

While Shiro was buying them a snack, Lance decided to voice his thoughts:

“When did you learn to speak English?”

Shiro thanked the cashier and handed Lance his snack before he answered: “Probably during junior high, why?”

Lance shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, it’s just cool that you can speak both languages without getting them mixed up,”

Shiro laughed, amused by his comment. He took a bite of his snack before responding. “I forget a lot of words in English, I just happen to have a job where I’m repeating the same things all the time,”

Lance raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing him. Shiro smiled, a tinge of pink showing up on his cheeks.

“So was English a requirement for your school?” 

Shiro nodded his head, looking forward towards the temple. “Yeah, it took me a little longer to learn English though,”

Lance tilted his head. “Why’s that?”

“I wasn’t interested in learning it, so I usually failed that class,”

Lance nodded his head, finding it hard to believe that Shiro could actually fail anything. In the past hour that Lance has gotten to meet Shiro, he’s come to the conclusion that Shiro is a perfect being, so hearing that even Shiro could do poorly in something made him more,  _ human. _

“What made you more interested in learning English then, since you said you didn’t like it?” Lance asked.

Shiro held his arm up, showing the ink that was currently printed on it. “You speak English, so I had to learn it so we could actually talk to each other,”

Lance felt his heart swell at those words. The fact that Shiro worked hard to learn another language just so he could talk to him made him feel all warm on the inside. Looking at Shiro, he felt his face pull into a bright smile. 

“Well, then I’ll just have to learn Japanese,” Lance’s smile grew bigger when he saw Shiro’s adorable face of confusion, “That way we’re even.”

It took Shiro a minute to understand, but when he did his face seemed to turn a darker shade of pink, causing Lance to giggle. Deciding that he wanted to further Shiro’s embarrassment, he untangled their hands and latched onto his arm, nuzzling him slightly.

“Well,  _ honey bear,  _ where else shall we go?”

A small squeak came out of Shiro, who was desperately trying to not melt into a pool of embarrassment. Lance laughed, patting his arm lightly. As Shiro was trying to cool down Lance gasped, pulling him over to a fortune stand.

“Shiro look! Let’s go and see our fortunes!”

Shiro nodded, smiling at how excited Lance was. When they reached the stand, Lance looked down at the table curiously. A cylindrical box was seated at one edge of the booth. He looked over at Shiro, who had already paid for both fortunes.

“How do we do this?”

Shiro took the cylinder in his hands. “You think of a question that you have then you shake it,”

He shook the cylinder for a couple of seconds before shaking a stick out. “Then you look at the number on your stick and tell the person what number you got.”

Lance nodded, repeating the process as Shiro went to receive his fortune. He quickly typed his number on his phone so he wouldn’t forget it. When he got over to the counter he waited before someone saw him. They looked at him expectantly before Lance got the hint.

“Oh! Number eighty.”

The person nodded their head, pulling the slip of paper out of it’s box. Lance thanked the person before looking down at what his fortune said.

Looking down, he felt his stomach sink as he read and reread the words printed on his piece of paper:

_ “Love separated through distance is as great as the divide between Heaven and Earth. This fuels the seeds of doubt that eventually break the two apart.” _


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm trying to have an actual schedule, i'm praying that it'll stay

Lance felt himself space out for a couple of seconds before he was brought back to reality by Shiro, who was currently standing right in front of him, waving a hand in his face.

“Lance? Are you okay?” 

He nodded, mustering up a fake smile. There was no point in worrying Shiro when they were only an hour into the tour. “Of course, what’d your fortune say?”

Shiro happily told him his fortune, but Lance couldn’t feel it in him to listen. He was too worried about  _ his  _ fortune.  _ Was it actually true? It was just a couple of stupid words on a paper, but what if this is the universe trying to tell him something. He heard of soulmates who’ve never gotten along, and they never seem happy. Was he really destined to the same fate as them?  _ Before Lance was pulled into a downward spiral Shiro stopped abruptly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked, concern written on his face.

Lance waved him off, laughing slightly. “Yeah, I guess I’m just a little out of it,”

He could tell that Shiro had a hard time believing him, but he said nothing. Instead, he cleared his throat, giving Lance one of his brightest smiles. “Well, what did your fortune say?”

Lance felt his breath catch in his throat. He didn’t want to tell Shiro, what if he reacted poorly? He hadn’t known him for very long, so how would he react? So instead, Lance took a deep breath and put on a smirk.

“Oh nothing amazing, just saying that I’ll find some luck with traveling,”

Shiro seemed to believe him, as he lit up slightly and began to tell Lance about how lucky he was to get a fortune like that. Lance smiled, trying his hardest to keep his act up. It proved to be a harder task to handle, as Shiro was a ball of sunshine who’s happiness made it impossible to be upset. He couldn’t get trapped though, so he kept Shiro at an arm's distance, smiling and laughing when he did. All Lance could think about is how the trip was going to be a lot harder now.

* * *

“Alright, we’re just about to leave so make sure you have all of your belongings with you! It would be a shame to leave without all of the goodies you may have bought here,”

As more people entered the bus Shiro made sure to greet them all with a warm smile and a “welcome back”. Lance knew it had to be apart of the job description, but he could definitely see why Shiro got such great reviews. The guy was just a welcoming and warm person, and it made Lance slightly agitated. If Shiro was the best man on Earth (which Lance personally believed), then why would fate tell him that they would be split apart? As Lance continued down the path of uncertainty, he felt someone sit down next to him. Turning to face the person, he relaxed as he saw Hunk’s smiling face.

“Hey buddy, you’ll never believe how many foods I’ve tried! And they’re all  _ so  _ good! Like, how’s that even possible?”

Lance laughed, rolling his eyes at his excited friend. “I’m glad you had a good time,”

Hunk grinned, shoving Lance’s shoulder slightly. “You know I left so you could have some alone time with Shiro, right?”

Lance gave Hunk a look that showed him that he knew and wasn’t amused. This caused Hunk to giggle.

“So how’d bonding go? Did you two hit it off?”

Lance felt hesitant to tell Hunk. Should he just lie or should he just tell him his worries. Deciding to go with the latter one, he sighed.

“It was going great, we were laughing and smiling. I really thought that everything was finally looking up for me,”

Hunk nodded his head. “And then?”

Lance cleared his throat, keeping his voice down so Shiro wouldn’t hear him. “Well, then we went to get our fortunes and mine wasn’t necessarily the best,”

He handed Hunk the slip of paper, waiting patiently as his friend looked over the paper multiple times. After a couple of seconds, he handed the paper back to Lance, who then stuffed it back into his pocket and groaned.

“How is it that when I finally get lucky I’m also unlucky?”

Hunk patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Hey, you never know, anything is possible. Don’t believe what some stupid paper says.”

Lance looked at him, a blank expression on his face. “Do you not remember the time where we went to Panda and my fortune cookie said to watch out for things flying my way and then immediately had a baseball thrown right in my face?”

Hunk shrugged his shoulders. “It’s just a coincidence that you read that fortune and then Pidge’s robotics project threw a baseball at you,”

“Or what about that other time where I went to a psychic and the man said I would meet my soulmate when I turn twenty-three?”

Hunk raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Lance gestured at himself wildly. “Well  _ I’m  _ twenty-three and guess who I just met?” He then gestured to Shiro, who was currently helping a lady with one of her three kids. “My gorgeous soulmate who’s literally the kindest person in the world!”

When Lance shrunk back into his seat Hunk sighed, hugging his friend to his side. Lance rubbed his face, groaning as he did so.

“So what’re you gonna do?”

Lance looked up at Hunk, feeling slightly defeated. “I don’t know, I just don’t wanna get hurt.” He looked at the ground, noting how clean it was, “I’ll just try to act like it doesn’t bother me while also try to not have to interact with him.”

It was Hunk’s turn to give the other boy a blank look. “Are you serious? You finally find your soulmate and your plan is to  _ hide from him? _ ”

Lance straightened up slightly, leaning against the window instead. “I’m not hiding! I’m just staying away until I can keep calm,”

“Lance, your plan would be fine if we  _ lived in Japan,  _ but you seem to forget that we don’t — ”

Before Hunk could finish his sentence, the speakers crackled to life, a cheery voice shot out of it.

“We are now leaving Sensō-ji temple. I hope you all had a good time there. Our next stop will be at the Imperial Palace, which is where the emperor lives. I’ll give a little more information as we get closer so feel free to just tune me out and put your headphones back in or you can just fall asleep.”

There were some laughs as Shiro sat back down in his seat, pulling out a pen to write on his arm. Lance noticed the words appearing on his arm in the familiar sloppy cursive they’ve always been in.

_ You look beautiful, just thought you should know _

Lance smiled for a second, but then looked away from his arm. Instead he looked outside the window, watching the people go about their day. He knew that ignoring Shiro now wasn’t going to help, but he couldn’t bring himself to write anything. As he was watching the city and people go by, he felt himself be lulled into a nice nap.

* * *

 

Lance woke up to Hunk smiling down at him. Looking around, he noticed that the bus was nearly empty, with only himself, Hunk, and a couple of other families still on it. He looked up at Hunk with confusion.

“We’re at the palace, but don’t worry, we just got here,”

Lance sighed a breath of relief, getting up from his chair to walk out of the bus with Hunk. He saw Shiro, who was currently talking to one of the families. One of the kids were hanging on his leg while the other one was hanging from his arm. Once he saw Lance emerging from the bus, his smile grew bigger than Lance thought possible. He waved at him, ducking his head as Hunk clicked his tongue at him.

“Are you still worried about that fortune? You should honestly just throw it away,”

Lance stuck his tongue out at him. “I have a right to be worried, there must’ve been  _ some  _ god that was listening to me.”

Hunk rolled his eyes, bumping Lance with his arm to get his attention as Shiro cleared his throat.

“Alright, so you will be guided by one of the lovely staff members here, as they know more about the history than I do,” He looked over at Lance and grinned before continuing, “After that you will have ten minutes to get over to the buses, and don’t be late, because after this place we’re going to have lunch.”

The rest of the group began to migrate over to the palace. Just as Lance and Hunk were about to join them, a voice yelled out.

“Hey, Lance!”

Lance silently cursed. He was hoping that he would be able to have some time to think about his fortune and his newfound relationship. Looking over at Hunk he noticed that the other boy had wandered off with the rest of the group. While Shiro jogged up to him, Lance prayed to any god that heard him to smite Hunk at this very moment. When Shiro got up to him he gave Lance an award winning smile.

“Your friend sure likes ditching you,” Shiro said.

Lance laughed awkwardly, trying to mask his worry. “Yeah, he just doesn’t like wasting time, I guess,”

When Lance began to walk over to the palace, Shiro followed him, almost like a lost puppy. Before Lance knew it he turned around and blurted out:

“Sorry, Hunk was a little jealous when I was only hanging out with you at the last stop so I think I’m just gonna go  _ alone, _ ”

Shiro blinked a few times before an awkward and timid smile appeared on his face. “Oh, alright, have fun.”

Lance gave a thumbs up before turning around and walking as fast as he could to the palace. As soon as Shiro was out of sight Lance tugged his hair as he groaned.  _ Why did he do that? Shiro looked so sad when he pushed him away. Maybe he should throw away the fortune.  _

Sighing, his shoulders slumped as he caught up with his group. It was too late now, he’ll apologize later when he’s not too paranoid. But for now, he at least had some time to think about his next move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated :)


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)

Shiro sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Pulling out his phone, he called his friend Keith to talk about his woes.

“Hello?” Keith’s voice came in through the speaker, tiredness clear in his voice.

Shiro smirked, amused by the other man. “How are you still sleeping? It’s almost twelve,”

“Don’t tell me how to live my life,” Keith grumbled before yawning into the receiver, “Anyways, what do you want?”

“Well, I found my soulmate on one of my tours,”

There was only silence. Before Shiro tried to say something the sound of someone falling broke the silence. Snickering, Shiro shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Did you just fall?”

“You found your soulmate?” Keith asked, ignoring Shiro previous question.

Shiro smiled, a warm feeling expanding through his chest. “Yeah, his name is Lance and he’s amazing,” he felt his heart sink as he remembered what happened, “But I’m not sure if he likes me.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you two destined to be together?”

“Well we seemed to hit off at first, but then he started acting distant,” 

Keith went silent for a minute before responding. “Maybe he’s trying to take things slow?”

Shiro huffed, unamused by Keith’s answer. “I’ve waited twenty-five years, how much slower could I possibly go?”

“I don’t need the sarcasm, Taka. I’m just saying that maybe he’s uncomfortable with immediately jumping into hand holding and kissing.”

“I didn’t kiss him.”

Keith sighed, slightly agitated. “Okay, think of it this way then: you’re at a level seven and he’s at a level two. So you just need to be patient with him,”

Shiro felt his shoulders slump. He didn’t think of whether Lance was uncomfortable, he was just too excited that he finally met his soulmate that he only thought about  _ his  _ feelings.

“I guess you’re right, so what should I do then?”

“I would just leave him be for now, you  _ do  _ have a job to do, after all. So just focus on your work and then talk to him about it after,”

Shiro nodded his head, a frown placed on his face. “Yeah, I guess,” He glanced at his watch, sighing, “Well, I should be getting back now, their tour is almost done.”

“Alright, see you soon.”

Shiro put his phone back in his pocket, looking out towards the palace. Maybe Keith was right, he probably had come on too strong, so maybe he should tone it down a little. He just hoped that it would make Lance happy, that was all he wanted.

* * *

"That tour was  _ so  _ boring!” Lance huffed as the entire group began to exit the palace.

Hunk rolled his eyes playfully, amused by the other’s reaction. “It was boring because you didn’t have any eye candy to stare at,”

Hunk laughed as Lance began to defend himself, saying that the tour guide for the palace was just boring and kept going on about things that didn’t really matter. Before Hunk could tease him any further they had reached the bus, where a smiling face greeted them.

“Welcome back! We’re leaving shortly for lunch, so please hurry on,” Shiro said, ushering them back onto the bus.

Lance didn’t look him in the eye, instead he hopped on the bus, taking his seat. Hunk sent an apologetic smile to Shiro before entering the bus.

“You know,” Hunk said, sitting down next to Lance, “You  _ could  _ say thank you, or hello, it’s kinda rude to just ignore him.”

Lance felt slightly guilty about just ignoring Shiro, but he couldn’t help but feel insecure after reading his fortune

“I’ll talk to him later.”

Hunk gave him a blank stare. “When? Are you gonna wait until the last minute? C’mon Lance, you’ve been waiting for years,”

“It’s not like I don’t know who he is, okay?” Lance looked at the ground before responding, “Everything’s fine.”

Hunk placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I just don’t wanna see you pass up an opportunity to be with your soulmate,”

Lance shrugged his shoulders. Att to get the spotlight off of himself, he pointed at Hunk’s arm.

“Have you talked to Shay?”

Hunk nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. “Yeah, she has her finals tomorrow,”

Lance raised an eyebrow at him, smirking. “How do you know? Did she tell you to stop bugging her?”

Hunk shook his head, lifting up his right arm, which currently had tons of purple pen scribbled on it. “She’s been writing her schedule down,”

Lance snickered, slightly envious of Hunk and Shay’s relationship. Before he could tease his friend further, the sound of the bus door closing and the speaker crackling to life filled the bus. Soon Shiro’s smiling face appeared.

“Hello everybody and welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the tour, I would’ve accompanied you but I’ve seen this tour six times in the past week and there’s only so much a guy can take.”

Some people laughed while others were silently laughing. Lance felt confused. Shiro would’ve gone with him even though it would bore him out of his mind. He couldn’t help but feel even more guilty.

“Anyways, I’m sure that all that walking has made you guys hungry, so now we’re heading over to  Hananomai Ryōgōku where we’ll eat some chanko-nabe,” He smiled when he noticed some of the blank stares, “You guys might know it as sumo stew.”

Lance looked out of the corner of his eye, noticing his friend get more excited than he’s been on the first half of the tour. He sighed, a small smile appearing on his face. Looking at Shiro, he noticed that the guide had set down his mic and slumped into his seat. Lance looked down at his arm, expecting another note to appear on his arm. Instead, he was shocked to find that their conversations from earlier had been completely wiped away, only ink smudges remained. He felt his smile drop from his face before he looked back at Shiro, who was currently talking to the bus driver. Looking towards the window, he couldn’t help the sadness from growing in his heart.

* * *

 

The group had finally reached the restaurant, which was a blessing to Lance. He only had a small snack with Shiro at the temple, so he was  _ starving.  _ Him and Hunk practically rushed into the building, causing some of the other tourists to laugh at their antics. Once everyone was in, Shiro led them to a couple of booths, motioning for everyone to sit down.

“Everyone choose a seat. Sorry, you might have to make some new friends,”

Lance and Hunk sat together along with a very talkative British lady. She turned towards Shiro, a pleasant smile on her face.

“Shiro, come sit over here!”

He turned towards the table, his familiar smile plastered onto his face. He quickly glanced at Lance before waving his hands in a dismissive way. “Oh no, I don’t want to intrude on your fun,”

“You wouldn’t be intruding at all!” Hunk said, side eyeing Lance as he continued, “I’ll bet that you’re hungry too, so come and sit down with us.”

Shiro took a second to process, before sighing as he sat in the booth, across from Lance. Meanwhile, Lance was silently plotting the death of his best friend.

An awkward silence overtook the table, Lance and Shiro wouldn’t look each other in the eye while the lady and Hunk looked to each other for help. After a while the lady began to speak up again.

“So what brings you two to Japan?” She asked, motioning to Hunk and Lance.

Hunk smiled, eternally grateful for the nice lady. “Well, I’m a culinary student, so my school sent me on a trip across Asia,” he motioned at Lance, who was very interested in his shoes now, “And I thought that I’d take my best friend on the trip with me.”

The two of them kept up the conversation while Lance and Shiro listened in, politely smiling and laughing when appropriate. Thankfully, when there was a lull in the conversation, the food had finally been brought to the table. Shiro thanked the waiter and then turned back to the table.

“Well, good luck trying to finish it,” 

Hunk laughed, patting his stomach. “I think I may have filled up on too much street food at the temple,”

Shiro huffed, an amused grin on his face. “Ah, a rookie mistake,”

The table fell back into silence as they ate, the occasional comment on the food or about the tour was made. Just as Lance was about to make a comment a couple of girls came up to their table, clearly not from their group. Shiro looked up at them, tilting his head.

“Is there something you need?”

The first girl seemed to have trouble forming a sentence, as the second one spoke for her. “We’ve just never seen someone so handsome before, so we thought we’d get a closer look,”

Shiro choked slightly, a blush slowly creeping up his neck. “Oh, well, thank you?”

The second girl gave a sultry look (or at least, that’s what Lance thought she was  _ trying  _ to make), then leaned in closer. “Wow, I wonder how far that blush goes,”

Shiro’s eyes widened, clearly trying to escape the conversation. Lance couldn’t help but feel a burning sensation in the pit of his stomach.  _ Was it jealousy or just heartburn? He was pretty sure it was jealousy.  _ Looking towards the girls who were slightly inching closer to Shiro, he felt the fire grow in him.  _ Yeah, definitely jealousy.  _ Before he could act on his feelings, Shiro raised his hand in front of the girls.

“Sorry, I’m enjoying lunch with my friends right now, it was nice meeting you,”

The first girl seemed to get the hint, backing off slightly. Her friend, didn’t seem to get the message as she inched closer to him. “Wow, I didn’t know you already considered us friends,” She touched his shoulder, “Why don’t you come back to our table?”

As Shiro was about to decline, the British lady next to him spoke up. “If you didn’t get the hint already, he doesn’t want to be anywhere near you, so kindly step off and remove your hand,”

The girl glared at her before returning her attention to Shiro. She slipped him a piece of paper before winking at him and leaving with her friend. He sighed, slumping back into his seat. Looking over at the person next to him, he smiled.

“Thank you so much…”

“Allura,” The lady said, smiling.

Shiro nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much Allura.”

She shrugged her shoulders, laughing a bit. “My pleasure. Besides,” She pointed at Lance, “He looked like he was going to implode if those girls continued to speak.”

Just like that, lunch went back to normal, with the occasional grumble from Lance and comment from Hunk about how good the food was.

* * *

As everyone re-entered the bus Lance still couldn’t help but feel bitter about what happened. So as the bus began to move and Shiro sat down in his seat he decided to pull out his pen and write something to his soulmate.

_ Wow you sure liked the attention from those girls _

Shiro looked down at his arm, slightly agitated and confused. _ Did he not see how uncomfortable he was? Or did he just not care?  _ He rubbed his face and groaned quietly in frustration. Calming himself down, he decided to write back a message of his own.

_ No. The only attention that I enjoy receiving is yours _

He could hear Lance squeak slightly. Shiro smiled softly before putting his pen away. Looking out the window he sighed, silently wishing that the tour would be over soon so he could ask Lance what he wanted to do next. He just found his soulmate after all, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t at least  _ try  _ to make it work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated :)
> 
> shiro and allura have the biggest brotp energy


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's another chapter

“We have now arrived at Tokyo Skytree, the tallest building in Japan. First I will lead you up to the top of the Skytree, where you can take pictures and enjoy the view of Tokyo. Then you guys will have about thirty minutes to go and buy some souvenirs and walk around, you know, get the blood circulating again.”

Everyone had exited the bus in a semi-orderly fashion, forming a small group around Shiro. Lance couldn’t help but feel a little sad as Shiro paid no attention to him, instead he seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with one lady and her child as they walked towards the entrance. Hunk seemed to notice this as he nudged Lance’s shoulder.

“What’s with the face?”

Lance huffed, looking away from Hunk. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is my normal face,”

“At first you don’t want Shiro to talk to you, but now all of a sudden you’re craving his attention?” 

Lance gasped, slightly offended but also annoyed that his friend could tell how he was feeling. Looking away from him, he sighed. “It’s not like this is fun for me either,”

Hunk just shook his head, not wanting to pry any further. They continued to walk in silence, not saying a word to each other, until the group finally reached the elevators. Shiro turned around, a bright smile plastered on his face.

“Welcome to Tokyo Skytree, please step into the elevator so we can see the best view,”

Shuffling into the elevator, Lance felt slightly squished as the entire tour group squeezed in. He looked over at his friend, who was currently being shoved into the corner, trying his best to not knock anyone over. He gave his friend an empathetic look as the elevator doors closed. He noticed Shiro was also shoved to the side, trying to make room for the stroller that was taking up most of the space.

Coming out of the elevator wasn’t that easy either. Since Lance was squished in the middle, multiple people began to push out of the elevator, causing Lance to trip over a couple of people. After apologizing to some and then waiting for his friend, they went over to look at the skyline. It was certainly beautiful, and Lance thought that it would be even more stunning during the night, when all the buildings were lit up. Just as he was about to comment to Hunk about the view a familiar figure walked up to them, looking towards the skyline.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Lance looked over at the woman, he recognized her from lunch, Allura. He smiled, leaning his arms on the rail. 

“Yeah, I bet it would look better at night,”

She hummed in agreement, turning towards Lance. Eyeing him, she tilted her head in confusion. 

“So, where’s your friend?”

Lance was about to point at him, only to realize that his friend had left him by himself. Scanning the deck he noticed Hunk over by Shiro, clearly in an interesting conversation. He sighed, turning back towards Allura as he shrugged his shoulders. Allura raised an eyebrow, leaning over a bit to look at Hunk and Shiro. Then she looked back at Lance with a more knowing look.

“Are you dating the tour guide?”

Lance felt the heat rush to his cheeks. He frantically shook his hands. “No, we’re not  _ dating, _ per say,”

Allura nodded her head, wanting to get more out of him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’re soulmates, but we just met today,”

Allura’s eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly, before her face split into a grin. “That’s amazing! How lucky are you?”

He shrugged his shoulders, no emotion showing on his face. “Well, we sorta hit a rough spot, and I don’t know how to deal with it because we just met,” he laughed humorlessly, “It’s kinda sad for two soulmates who  _ just  _ met.”

She gave an apologetic smile, patting his shoulder. “I know how it must feel. My soulmate and I get into many arguments,”

He looked at her, perking up a little. “You do?”

“Yes, the first time we ever talked was because we were arguing about some stupid fandom stuff,”

She rolled her sleeve up to reveal her soul mark, which read:

_ “No offense, but that’s fucking stupid.” _

Lance laughed, a small snort coming out of him as Allura smiled and rolled her sleeve back down. Once he calmed down he grinned. “I can’t believe you two patched things up after that,”

Allura rolled her eyes, sighing. “No, she still likes to be right so arguments are inevitable,” she pushed her hair behind her ear, “Our arguments usually due to long distance, so I know what it’s like to feel like that,”

“You’re in a long distance relationship?”

She nodded her head, a sad look on her face. “She lives in the states while I live in England."

He looked at her sympathetically. Looking at Shiro, he suddenly felt silly about ignoring Shiro. Before he could do anything about it Allura shook him slightly.

“You should go and talk to him,”

Lance shook his head, looking away from him. “I can’t,” he sighed after he saw the look Allura was giving him, “At least, not yet. He’s busy doing his job and I don’t want to start anything stupid.”

She clicked her tongue, a disapproving look on her face. “He’s your  _ soulmate _ , not some random guy you think is cute. He’ll make time for you,”

Lance rolled his eyes, not bothering to look at her. “It’s not that simple. We’re not like you and your soulmate,”

“You’re right, if it were us then this would’ve all been resolved by now.”

He hit her shoulder lightly, huffing. “There’s no need for the attitude,”

“There’s also no need to prolong whatever this is, so go and talk to him!” Allura said, shoving him towards Shiro.

Lance cried out indignantly before straightening himself up. Looking over at Shiro he felt the nerves in his stomach.  _ He could do this, right? It was just his soulmate who he’s been avoiding ever since he’s gotten the stupid fortune.  _ Lance gulped, frozen with doubt. Sighing, he slowly began to walk towards Shiro, hyping himself up with each step. 

Once he got to Shiro he took a deep breath before speaking:

“Hey Shiro,”

Shiro turned away from a grinning Hunk in order to look at him. He seemed to be slightly shocked but happy. Neither of them noticed Hunk slowly back away to give them some space.

“Do you need something?” Shiro asked, confusion clear on his face.

Lance shook his head. “No, I just feel like there were some crossed wires between us,”

Shiro tilted his head, an unamused look found its way to his face. “Is that so?”

Lance nodded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Mostly from my side. I think I’m just scared of messing it up?”

The confused look found its way back onto Shiro’s face. “What do you mean? How could you mess anything up?”

Lance gestured wildly between the two of them. “Well clearly I messed something up!”

Shiro chuckled lightly, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “It’s okay, I mean it’s not everyday you meet your soulmate,’

Lance sighed in relief, feeling better about talking to Shiro. As he tried to explain what happened Shiro’s phone buzzed, a beeping sound coming from it. He looked down at it, clicking his tongue.

“Can we finish this conversation later? I have to round up the group,”

Lance nodded, waving goodbye as he went to let everyone know it was time to go. When he was gone, Lance rubbed his face and sighed, annoyed that they’d been interrupted. Looking over at Shiro, he couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face. He was going to let him know how he feels, because Hunk was right, they don’t have forever.

* * *

Lance was sure that Shiro was avoiding him. As soon as the tour group had been set free to go and wonder around the Skytree, Shiro was nowhere to be seen. He spent of good chunk of the time looking for Shiro. He even wrote to him asking where he was, but he got no answer. He didn’t even have any time to look around, he was too busy looking for Shiro that he lost track of time, which only caused him to become more annoyed.

He was the last one to reach the bus, and Shiro’s smiling face caused a fire inside of him. Walking over to the guide he glared at him.

“Where were you? I’ve been looking for you for the past thirty minutes,”

Shiro stared innocently at him. “I’ve been waiting at the bus,”

“I wrote to you and you didn’t respond.” Lance said, slightly bitter.

Shiro looked down at his arm, then gasped. He looked back up at Lance apologetically. “Sorry, I didn’t notice,” Seeing Lance’s face he placed his hand on his shoulder, “We can talk at the next stop.”

Lance shrugged him off, still annoyed. He walked on the bus, not paying Shiro any mind. When he reached his seat he noticed Allura leaning against the back of their seat, laughing along with Hunk. He smiled, sitting down next to Hunk, gaining both of their attention.

“How’d it go with Shiro?” Hunk asked, a comforting smile on his face.

Lance rolled his eyes, still annoyed with the previous events. “I tried to talk to him after we got off of the Skytree, and he totally blew me off!” 

Allura raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I tried to look for him so we could talk, and I couldn’t find him. I even tried writing to him, and he didn’t bother writing back!”   
  
Hunk looked at him with empathy while Allura patted him on the back. “Maybe he was too busy,”

He looked up at Allura, still slightly annoyed but tired. “Are there drinks on the cruise?”

She nodded, a grin forming on her face. Lance huffed, cracking his knuckles.

“Let’s get drunk then,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated :)


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha lance is drunk

When the tour had finally reached the cruise ship, Lance was the first person to jump out of their chair and head straight to the bar. He didn’t bother waiting up for Hunk and Allura. Instead, he walked up to the bar and slammed down a couple of bills, wanting to get as drunk as possible. He was just finishing his first drink when Hunk and Allura sat down next to him.

“Thanks for waiting up for us,” Hunk said, playfully jabbing at his friend. 

Lance merely mumbled a reply, too busy buying another drink. Allura rolled her eyes, asking for a round of shots instead. As they were passed out Lance immediately tipped it back, drinking circles around the other two. Once they finished Allura grinned, wiping her mouth.

“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who could out drink me,”

Hunk snickered, patting Lance on the shoulder. “Don’t let him fool you, he can’t hold his alcohol,”

“Who the fuck can’t hold their alcohol? You can’t even hold  _ food  _ in,” Lance slurred, sipping on his next drink.

Allura giggled while Hunk gasped, visibly offended. They stayed like that for a while, Allura calling for more shots while they all became more intoxicated by the second. Hunk had to tap out after a couple of drinks, knowing that once Lance started, he wouldn’t stop. He thought it’d be better if at least  _ one  _ of them were still able to comprehend what was happening. Allura and Lance, on the other hand, paid no mind to how much they were drinking. They occasionally looked up to pay for another round before going back to their intense drinking competition. After about the fourth round, both of them had to tap out, for different reasons: Allura could feel her soul slipping out of her while Lance was on the verge of throwing up  _ everything.  _ Hunk sighed, thanking the bartender while pulling the two up so they could sit by the ocean to get some fresh air.

Once they were by the ocean, Lance slumped over his chair, clearly feeling ill. Meanwhile, Allura was snickering about how she’d won, but was also leaning onto Hunk for support. Hunk clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“And you said you could handle your alcohol,”

Allura shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to speak in case of other things escaping her as well. Hunk shook his head, smiling as he helped her into the seat next to Lance, causing her to slump against him instead. Lance looked up at Hunk, his eyes somewhat glazed over. 

“Did I win?” Lance asked, his slur getting noticably worse.

Hunk huffed out a laugh, shaking his head. “I’d say it was a tie,”

Lance cursed under his breath, glaring at the girl who was currently latched onto him. Testing it, he shook his arm, causing Allura to jump slightly, her eyes slightly unfocused.

“I’m not a sleeping post, y’know,” He said, laughing as Allura wobbled slightly, trying to adjust herself.

Instead of apologizing or getting embarrassed, Allura held up a finger to Lance’s lips. “Shh shh shh, shut up,”

Hunk snorted when Lance let out a loud gasp, gaining the attention of a couple of people. Lance decided to take Allura’s advice, opting to stay quiet, leaning onto Hunk. 

It was silent for a while, only the chatter of the cruise acting as white noise. Out of the three, only Hunk was awake, while the other two were napping. As someone had approached Hunk, he looked up from his phone, a smile forming on his face,

“You look like you’re having fun,” Shiro said, sitting in front of the group.

Hunk glared at him playfully, trying is best not to move. “One of us has to be responsible,”

Shiro laughed, his eyes trailing down to Lance, who was currently sleeping peacefully. Hunk seemed to notice, as he rolled his eyes while nudging Lance slightly with his shoulder. He woke up, slightly startled. After a couple of seconds of re-adjusting, his eyes landed on Shiro. Smiling, he twisted away from Hunk and Allura to move closer to Shiro.

“Hey,” Lance hummed, grabbing Shiro’s arm.

Shiro gulped. He was close enough to Lance’s face that he could smell the alcohol rolling off of him in waves. Sighing, he put on a smile, gently prying Lance’s hand off of his bicep. 

“Hey Lance, how are you feeling?”

Lance smirked, leaning in closer to Shiro. “Better now that you’re here,”

Shiro felt his eyebrows furrow as Hunk let out a hearty laugh. Looking over at him, he tilted his head in confusion.

“About that, Lance is a flirty drunk,” Hunk said, standing up with Allura in tow, “Have fun.”

Before Shiro could protest, Hunk quickly fled, laughing along the way.

* * *

“Did I ever tell you that you’re hot?” Lance slurred out, latching onto Shiro’s arm again.

Shiro plucked his arm off of him, trying to keep calm. “You’ve already said it five times,”

Lance shrugged his shoulders, a goofy smile on his face as he stumbled slightly. He latched onto Shiro, this time hugging the side of his torso, burying his head into his chest. Shiro felt himself frozen in place as Lance cuddled up to him. Coughing, he looked down at the other boy, unamused with his antics. Realizing that Lance would only cling to him again if he tried to remove him, he continued to walk around the ship with Lance still attached to him.

There wasn’t much chatter between the two of them, only Lance’s flirting could be heard. Shiro wasn’t sure where he lost his sanity.  _ Probably somewhere between “are those space pants? Because that ass is out of this world” and “did you sit in a pile of sugar? Because you have a pretty sweet ass”.  _ He was knocked out of his thoughts when Lance was hitting him on his chest. 

“What is it?” Shiro asked, tilting his head.

“I think I’m in love with you,” Lance said, a smile on his face.

Shiro’s eyes widened slightly, before he wiped his face of emotion. “You don’t know what you’re saying,”

Lance huffed, holding him tighter as Shiro tried to leave. “Yes I do! I know what ‘love’ means, Shiro,”

Shiro stared down at Lance, a blank expression on his face. “You’re drunk. You don’t mean it,”

Lance wasn’t having it though, as he pulled Shiro down slightly, inches away from each other. Behind the glazed eyes there was some determination. Before Shiro could say anything Lance pulled him into a kiss. It was sloppy and rushed, and it was over in the blink of an eye.

Shiro pulled away from him, his eyes wide with shock. As he tried to say something, Lance held his hand up, causing him to become silent.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,”

He dashed to the side of the ship, no longer able to hold it in. He hurled into the ocean, due to all of the drinks he had previously. Shiro laughed under his breath, walking over to Lance. Once he reached him, Shiro rubbed his back in a soothing motion, shushing him softly. 

When Lance finally stopped, he slunk down, leaning against the railing. Shiro sat beside him, removing his hand from his back.

“Are you okay?” He asked, offering a water bottle.

Lance took the bottle, immediately chugging the entire thing. “I’ve been better,”

Shiro nodded, staring in front of him, not wanting to look at Lance after what happened. As if sensing his thoughts, Lance put a hand on Shiro’s leg.

“Do you not believe me?”

He sighed, leaning his head back while looking at Lance. “Come back to me when you’re sober. Then you can make any declaration of love you want,”

Lance nodded his head, resting against Shiro’s shoulder. As Lance drifted off to sleep Shiro couldn’t help but wonder if Lance really meant what he said.  _ Did he really mean what he said, or was the alcohol to blame?  _ Touching his lips lightly, he felt a sad smile appear. 

_ Maybe it was just the alcohol. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated! :)


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is long. why? i don't know

Lance woke up with a groan, holding his head while sitting up. Slowly, he looked around at his surroundings. He noticed that he was back in his bedroom, and Hunk was sitting in the bed next to him, watching the news.

“What happened?”

Hunk looked over at him, grinning a little. “Hey buddy, how are you feeling?”

Lance rubbed his temples, trying to relieve some of the pain. “I want to die. I feel like shit,”

Hunk laughed, walking over to him to hand him a water bottle. Lance snatched the bottle out of his hands, chugging it down quickly. Once he finished, he threw it across the room, missing the trash can. He heard Hunk sighing next to him, going over to throw away the bottle properly.

“Do you remember anything from last night?”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows together, deep in thought, before shaking his head. “No, all I remember is drinking with you and Allura,”

Hunk blinked a few times before a confused look appeared on his face. “You don’t remember  _ anything? _ ”

“Should I?”

Hunk sighed, debating on whether or not he should tell him what happened last night. Deciding that he wanted Lance to get over his embarrassment before they left the hotel room he told him what happened:

“You were practically smothering Shiro with compliments and clinging onto him,”

Lance stared at his friend, slightly shocked about what happened. But he shrugged it off. He knew he was a flirty drunk, so flirting a little with his soulmate didn’t matter that much to him. Before he could say anything Hunk held up a hand.

“You also told him that you love him, then kissed him.”

Lance felt himself heat up, embarrassed with his actions. He put his face in his hands, trying his best to hide from his friend. Peeking through his hands, he saw Hunk struggling to contain his laughter.

“Is that all I did?” He asked hopefully.

Hunk shook his head, letting his laughter fall from his lips. “You also threw up right after you kissed him.”

Lance looked up from his hands, his face completely blanched of all color. He felt himself sink further into the bed, wanting to smash his head into a wall. It didn’t help that Hunk was just standing there, laughing at Lance’s misery. He looked up at the laughing boy, groaning.

“It’s not funny Hunk!” Lance whined, throwing a pillow at him.

Hunk dodged the assault, giggles still trickling out of him. “I mean, it kinda is.”

Lance glared at him, crossing his arms while huffing. Not only did he embarrass himself in front of his soulmate by throwing up, but he confessed his love for him after he’d been ignoring Shiro all day. He looked at Hunk cautiously.

“Do you know what he said after I told him I love him?”

Hunk smiled at his friend, sitting on the edge of his bed. “He said to talk to him when you’re sober,”

“How am I supposed to? I don’t even have his number!”

Hunk pointed to his wrist. “You could always write to him,”

Lance lit up at the suggestion. He moved to get a pen when his head started pounding again. Groaning, he slowly made his way to the bathroom instead.

“Maybe I should do it  _ after  _ I take a shower,”

* * *

_ Hey _

Shiro looked down at the neat penmanship on his arm. He traced over it with his finger, contemplating on what he should say. 

“Just say ‘hi’ it’s not that fucking hard,” Keith said, as if sensing his thoughts.

Shiro pouted, crossing his arms as he did so. “It’s not that easy,”

Keith tore his eyes away from the game he was currently playing to look at Shiro. When he saw the dejected look on his friend’s face he sighed, patting his shoulder.

“Just see what he wants, then you’ll have a right to be all freaked out,”

Shiro nodded his head, his pen slightly shaking as he wrote down his reply:

_ Hello _

It was a simple message, nothing more than a greeting. Somehow it made Shiro’s heart race. After yesterday Shiro was confused about where they were in this relationship.  _ Was it a relationship? Or is he just overthinking things?  _ Before he could think anymore about the situation at hand he noticed a new sentence had appeared on his arm.

_ We need to talk _

Shiro felt his breath catch in his throat. He thrusted his arm in front of Keith’s face, making the other man protest.

“What the fu —”

He paused mid sentence, less focused on the fact that his character just died and more on the neat words written on Shiro’s arm. After examining it for a couple of seconds he looked at Shiro.

“Well, are you gonna respond?”

“What am I supposed to say?” Shiro asked, clearly freaking out.

Keith rolled his eyes, picking up his controller. “Say ‘okay, sounds cool’,”

Shiro hit his shoulder, drawing out a small hiss from Keith. “You’re not helpful,”

“Helpful wasn’t apart of the deal when you made this friendship.”

Shiro spared one last glare at Keith before writing a response:

_ Okay, about what? _

He waited for a couple of minutes before slumping down next to Keith, who paid no attention to his friend. Only when Shiro fell face first into the side of the couch did he decide to look over.

“Everything okay there?”

A muffled “no” came from the couch, making Keith huff. He turned off the TV and got up from the couch, pulling Shiro along with him, despite the other’s protests.

“C’mon, let’s go. I’m not letting you mope around all day,” Keith said, pulling on his hoodie.

Shiro sighed, reluctantly putting on his shoes and grabbing his keys. He raised an eyebrow at the look Keith was giving him.

“What?”

“Takashi Shirogane it’s winter. What would your mom think if I let you go out without a damn jacket?”

Shiro grumbled something about Keith being overbearing, but put on a jacket nonetheless. Once they were out of the apartment Shiro looked over at Keith, who seemed to be determined.

“Where are we going anyway?”

“The cat cafe in Akihabara. It usually seems to cheer you up,”

Shiro smiled, partially due to how determined his friend was to cheer him up, but mainly because he got to see the adorable cats. The plan seemed to be working, as he suddenly felt much happier then he’d been waiting for a reply. Feeling more playful, he started jogging.

“Last one to the train station has to pay for the tickets,”

* * *

 

Lance looked down at his arm, sloppy cursive letters printed on his arm. He had no idea of what he wanted to say. On one hand he just wanted to pour his heart out and create a large speech that would probably cover both arms. On the other hand he just wanted to avoid the whole thing and just pretend that nothing happened. He sighed, pushing his food around, not wanting to eat anything.

“Hey, if you’re not gonna eat then at least put it in a plastic bag,” Hunk said, wiping his hands, “It’s free breakfast, why waste it?”

Lance shoved a bite into his mouth, his eyes never leaving his arm. He wondered if even talking to Shiro was a bad idea. They only had a week left before they had to pack up and leave, so why was he so hesitant about this? Hunk looked at his friend, a sympathetic look on his face. After eating in silence for a couple of minutes, Hunk got up, pulling Lance up with him. Lance looked up from his arm, a confused look on his face.

“Where are we going?”

Hunk didn’t look at him, instead walking over to the elevators, pushing the button to go up. “Well first off, you’re going to change into something other than your pajamas and then we’re going to Akihabara so you can cheer up and be your weeb self.”

Lance lit up a bit, feeling slightly better. Once they were at their room Lance went to pick out a white t-shirt, a slightly baggy jean jacket, and some black jeans. He topped it off with a white cap that had a tiny rainbow on the front. As he waited for Hunk to grab his wallet from the safe he quickly wrote down something for Shiro:

_ Can we meet tomorrow? _

“Hey Lance, are you ready?”

Lance looked up from his arm, shoving the pen in his pocket, standing up. He smiled at his friend, linking his arm in his.

“Let’s go!”

* * *

 

It had only been an hour and Lance had pretty much exhausted his bank account. He’d bought many figures and won some plushies from the irritating claw machines. After writing to Shiro he’d gotten a response immediately. Shiro agreed to meet up with Lance tomorrow to talk about their relationship and where it stood. Lance would send him his hotel address tomorrow and then they would talk. He tried his best to not think about it, because the more he thought about it then the more he just wanted to chicken out and leave.

After a couple of minutes of watching Lance fail at every claw machine, Hunk decided that they go to a cafe to eat some lunch. Much to Lance’s excitement, Hunk had taken them to a cat cafe. When they sat down at their table Lance couldn’t contain his happiness anymore. He picked up one of the kittens and set them down in his lap, petting them softly. Hunk rolled his eyes at the sight, looking at the menu. 

“So what do you feel like eating? They have okonomiyaki, udon, gyo—”

“Oh my god!”

Hunk didn’t look up from his menu. “I know, gyoza seems pretty good,”

Lance his his shoulder. “No, not that!  _ Look over there! _ ”

Hunk looked up from his menu, his eyes following where Lance’s were. His eyebrows raised slightly when he noticed Shiro sitting across the room with another man. They seemed to be enjoying each others company, laughing a little while petting the cats. He looked back at Lance, who was currently freaking out.

“Are you gonna talk to him?”

“No!  _ Who  _ is that guy with him?” Lance hissed, moving the kitten off of his lap. 

Hunk shrugged his shoulders, going back to looking at his menu. “It’s probably his friend,”

“You can’t be ‘just friends’ with someone  _ that  _ hot!” Lance said, crossing his arms while huffing, “I don’t talk to him for  _ one  _ day and then he goes and finds another man? What kind of soulmate does that?”

Hunk looked at Lance, an unamused look resting on his face. “You think so low of him. Just go over there and say hi,”

Lance felt a fire pool in his stomach, causing him to stand up and march right over to Shiro’s table. When he reached it, he put a hand on Shiro’s shoulder, plastering a fake smile on his face.

“Hey Shiro, nice seeing you here,”

Shiro looked up from the man sitting across from him, a surprised look on his face. He smiled back up at him. “Hey Lance, what are you doing here?”

“So this is Lance?” The man said, grinning, “I’m Keith, it’s nice to meet you.”

Lance looked down at his hand before looking back at his face. He was pretty, to say the least. His eyes were dark gray with a hint of violet mixed in them. He had a slim face with a nice jawline. His hair was black and messy, and was pulled into a ponytail. Lance couldn’t help but admit that the man was pretty, which only made the fire in his stomach burn even hotter. 

He shook Keith’s hand, gripping it a bit harder than he had to. They all stayed there in complete silence until Keith coughed, standing up.

“Well, I’m gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back,”

He quickly walked away from the pair, clearly wanting to step away from that situation. Lance looked down at Shiro, who was smiling up at him. Shiro motioned for him to sit down. He did so, huffing as he sat. 

“So, who’s  _ Keith? _ ”

Shiro laughed, taking a sip of his drink. “He’s my friend. I’ve known him since elementary school,”

Lance nodded his head, his jealousy still not quelled. Shiro seemed to notice, as he laughed lightly at Lance. He looked at him, glaring.

“What’s so funny?” Lance asked.

Shiro shook his head, a bigger smile on his face. “Lance, Keith has a boyfriend.”

Lance blinked, confused. “A boyfriend?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, his  _ soulmate _ ,”

Lance looked at Shiro for a few seconds before groaning, burying his head in his hands. Shiro laughed, no longer able to hold it in. They stayed that way for a few seconds, before Shiro patted Lance on the head. He looked up at Shiro, who was still smiling.

“Were you jealous?”

Lance wildly gestured at himself. “What do you  _ think?  _ I wouldn’t have just marched over here for nothing!”

Shiro giggled, pushing back Lance’s hair. “You don’t need to be jealous,”

Lance groaned, looking at the table. “I know I shouldn’t be so jealous after what’s happened but—”

“I’m only interested in you.”

Lance looked at him, his eyes wide. Just as he was about to say something Shiro smiled, patting his hand.

“Keith’s waiting for me, I’ll see you tomorrow?"

Lance nodded his head, waving goodbye as he watched Shiro leave with Keith. When they left Lance looked down at the table, his cheeks warm. He bit back a smile.

Tomorrow was the day he was going to tell Shiro how he felt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated! :)


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi please do yourself a favor and listen to body count by jessie reyez because it's great  
> also this is basically just a date chapter, but i promise more angst is coming your way

The next day came by much quicker than Lance would have liked. Not only was he not prepared for his talk with Shiro, but neither was his wardrobe. He’d only brought a couple of outfits along since him and Hunk only took carry on baggage, leaving him with nothing nice to wear. He slumped down on his bed, sighing as he did so. Hunk must’ve heard him, as he poked his head from the bathroom, a concerned look on his face.

“Hey buddy, you doing okay?”

He glanced over at Hunk, a miserable look on his face. “No Hunk, I’m not okay. I stupidly decided to go on a ‘date’ with Shiro to confess my love for him and I don’t even have a decent outfit to wear for the occasion,”

Hunk exited the bathroom, walking over to inspect the clothes that Lance had laid out on the bed. There was a pink shirt that had the words “shh no one knows I’m bisexual” written in comic sans, a white button up shirt, a beige turtleneck sweater, and a gray hoodie. Picking up the turtleneck he held it up for Lance.

“Why don’t you wear this with your jean jacket?”

Lance gasped slightly, putting a hand on his chest. “He saw me wear that jacket yesterday! I don’t want him to think I don’t have clothes,”

“He already knows that you don’t live here, of course you’re not gonna have a lot of clothes,” Hunk said, staring at him.

Lance sighed, snatching the sweater out of Hunks hands and picked up some blue jeans. Heading to the bathroom to change, he shut the door with a loud slam. When he walked out Hunk whistled, clapping his hands.

“You look good!”

Lance knitted his eyebrows together, looking at himself in the mirror. “Are you sure? Maybe I should change,”

“Well it’s too late now,” Hunk said, looking down at his watch, “Shiro should be here any minute now.”

As if hearing his name, there was a knock at the door. Lance jumped slightly, feeling his nervousness pool in his stomach.

“Never mind, I’m not going. Just tell him—”

Ignoring Lance, Hunk opened the door, smiling at Shiro. “Hey Shiro, he’s just over there,”

Shiro stepped in, pink roses in hand as he walked over to Lance. He smiled, handing the other boy the roses.

“These are for you,”

Lance felt himself get warm as he coughed out a thank you and took the roses, examining them closely. He sniffed, enjoying the scent of them. Before Lance could thank Shiro, Hunk cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Well, you two have fun on your date, I’m heading out!”

Just like that, Hunk shut the door behind him, leaving them alone. Shiro looked down at his feet, shifting slightly, having nothing to say. Looking at Lance, he noticed how nervous he seemed to be as well. He motioned to the space next to Lance, an eyebrow quirking up.

“Can I sit?”

Lance nodded his head, scooting over slightly for Shiro to sit. When he sat down he took a deep breath before speaking:

“Listen, if I came on too strong yesterday I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve been waiting for a long time and I got too excited that I forgot to ask how you felt about it. So if you want to take things slow then that’s—”

“You didnt come on too strong! I was just being stupid!” Lance interrupted.

Shiro tilted his head, clearly confused. “What do you mean? You’re not stupid,”

Lance shook his head, a small smile forming on his face. “No, what I mean is that I was just letting something dumb control my feelings. I was just so worried about getting hurt that I was pushing you away. I don’t mind not taking things slow. In fact, I think I’d prefer it.”

Shiro laughed, his brown eyes full of happiness. He still looked slightly confused, so he decided to voice his thoughts.

“What made you think that I would hurt you?”

Lance smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ll tell you later,”

Shiro nodded his head, his smile never leaving his face. Standing up, he offered his hand to Lance.

“Ready for that date?”

He grinned, taking the extended hand. “Let’s do this,”

* * *

 “This smells amazing!” Lance exclaimed, looking down at the bowl of noodles.

Shiro smiled at him, thanking the waiter as he took his bowl. As they were leaving the hotel Lance commented about how he didn’t have breakfast _or_ lunch before Shiro came, causing Shiro to immediately pull Lance into one of his favorite ramen houses for a nice lunch. When the waiter left Shiro looked back at Lance, laughing at how he dug in.

“Good?” Shiro asked, lifting up his chopsticks.

Lance hummed, swallowing his bite before answering. “It’s great! I didn’t realize that I was so hungry until we got here,”

Shiro nodded, mouth full of food. They stayed silent for a while, eating and enjoying each other’s company. It wasn’t until Lance had enough of the silence that they began to talk.

“Tell me about your family,” He said, taking a sip of his water.

Shiro held up a finger, finishing his bite before answering. “What do you want to know?”

Lance tapped his chin, thinking. “Who’s in your family?”

“I have my grandmother, my grandfather, my mother, my father, and my older brother.”

“You have an older brother?” Lance asked, surprised.

Shiro nodded his head, sending a look at the boy. “He already has a soulmate, so don’t try anything.”

Lance glared playfully, shoving Shiro slightly. “What’s your family like?”

Shiro’s eyebrows pinched together as he thought about it, before shrugging his shoulders. “They’re _loud_ , that’s for sure,”

Lance smiled, nodding his head as a signal for Shiro to continue.

“My grandparents are nice, albeit a little overbearing, but they’re nice. My parents are good people. They’re funny and the loudest of the bunch.”

Lance nodded, grinning. “And your brother?”

Shiro looked at him, a serious expression on his face. “He’s owed me money since last year, so he’s dead to me.”

Lance bursted out laughing, trying his best to hold in his wheezes. Shiro giggled, pushing his empty bowl in front of him.

“In all honesty my brother’s pretty okay. He just loves to brag about how successful he is,”

Lance perked up slightly, tilting his head. “What’s he do for a living?”

Shiro rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his water. “A lawyer,”

“Oh, that must be stressful,” Lance said, sighing, “I can’t imagine going to college for that long. He must be smart,”

Shiro gasped in offence. “I’ll have you know that I went to university for finance,”

Lance’s eyes widened, clearly shocked. “Really? Do you have a degree?”

“Bachelor's,”

“Wow, that’s cool!” Lance said, smiling.

Shiro rolled his eyes, smiling softly at him. He stood up from his chair, offering his arm to Lance.

“Let’s go pay and then we can take a walk,” He smiled when Lance took his arm, “Maybe you can tell me about your family as well,”

Lance seemed to like the idea as he lit up, already going on about how wonderful his family is. Shiro couldn’t help the smile that crept it’s way on his face.

_Maybe things were going to be okay after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated! :)


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> psst like what i write? then maybe consider [buying me a coffee?](https://ko-fi.com/Q5Q28CGJ)
> 
> also there's a "make out" session, so yeah, have that

The date continued smoothly. Shiro paid for the meal, thanked the waitress, then the two left, heading towards one of the nearby parks so they could walk off the food they just had. There was a lull in the conversation, as the two opted to walk in silence, enjoying the view. Occasionally a comment was made about the environment or how cold it was. 

Shiro looked over at Lance, who was currently looking around the park, rubbing his hands together to create some warmth. As if sensing Shiro’s eyes, Lance looked back at him, a smile growing on his face.

“What? Is something on my face?”

Shiro shook his head, a grin on his face. “No, I just like looking at your face.”

Lance laughed, shoving him away slightly. “That’s really creepy, Shiro.”

Shiro gasped, an offended look on his face. Speeding up, he jogged away from Lance, causing the other to shout, laughter following it. A couple of people on the path looked at them curiously, but they ignored the stares. Shiro allowed Lance to catch up, who was muttering what Shiro could only assume were curses under his breath. Once he caught up, Shiro held his arm out for the other boy, a shy smile on his face. 

“C’mon, you’re so  _ slow _ .”

“Say’s the dumber brother,” Lance muttered under his breath playfully, linking their arms together.

Shiro rolled his eyes, sighing. “Well, since I told you about  _ my  _ family, why don’t you tell me about your’s?”

Lance hummed thoughtfully before responding. “Well, I come from a big family. I have my grandma, my mom and dad, my two sisters, Rachel and Veronica, and my two brothers Marco and Luis."

Shiro looked at him, eyebrows raised in shock. “Wow, that’s a lot of people,”

Lance nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I also have a lot of nieces and nephews,”

Shiro stared at him, clearly surprised. He’s only known his tiny family, so hearing about how large Lance’s family is, it made him slightly nervous. He cleared his throat before speaking.

“Well, what are they like?”

Lance smiled, a serene look on his face. “Well, my grandma is super nice. Like, way too nice for her own good. She almost got robbed because she offered to take someone home in her car once, you know?”

At Shiro’s worried expression Lance laughed, waving him off. “Don’t worry, she’s such a bad driver that the robber just dropped the bag and dove out of the car,”

Shiro huffed out a breath of relief, holding his chest. “Don’t scare me like that,”

Lance smiled, continuing on about his family. “My mom and dad are pretty cool. Sometimes my mom’s a little overbearing and my dad can be dense, but they’re usually easy going and nice,”

“My sisters are okay.”

When Lance didn’t elaborate, Shiro snorted, looking down at the other boy. “Wow, that’s all?”

“Well, I mean, Veronica is the better sister. She’s the oldest sister, so she’s the ‘mature’ one. But she has a nice sense of humor,”

Shiro nodded, tilting his head in curiosity. “What about Rachel?”

Lance sighed, rolling his eyes. “Rachel is also older than me. She steals all of my clothes and picks on me,” He looked over at Shiro, amusement in his eyes, “She  _ also  _ owes me twenty bucks.”

Shiro laughed, shaking his head. Looking up at Lance he smiled. “What about your brothers?”

“Marco and Luis are basically the worst brothers in the world because they always team up on me and I hate them.”

That’s what broke Shiro. He felt the giggles work their way up, bubbling in this throat. Lance pouted, pulling on Shiro’s arm in the process.

“It’s not funny!”

Shiro’s laughter calmed down, leaving him to smile at Lance. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you!”

Lance felt his eyes widen slightly, before his face split into a full grown smile. Swooning slightly, he leaned against Shiro. “My hero,”

Shiro smiled, nodding his head along as Lance continued to talk about the rest of his family, going on about how adorable his little nieces and nephews are and all of the pranks they pulled on his brothers to get revenge. He couldn’t help but stare at Lance, admiring how beautiful he looked. His eyes couldn’t stop wandering down to Lance’s lips, and how soft they felt last night. 

Lance looked up at Shiro, his lips parted slightly. “Are you okay?”

Shiro blinked, slightly startled. He turned his head away slightly, hoping that Lance couldn’t see the heat rise to his cheeks. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Lance tugged on his arm lightly, stopping them. Looking up at Shiro, Lance leaned in slightly, looking at Shiro’s face. Shiro continued to look away, his blush prominent on his face. Lance smirked, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s torso.

“Are you  _ blushing? _ ”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe you should get your eyes checked.”

Shiro looked down at Lance, his eyes trailing off to his lips again. Catching on, Lance grinned, leaning in closer, so that they were only an inch away from each other.

“You know, if you wanted to kiss me, you could’ve asked,”

Shiro felt the blood rush to his face, his ears turning a bright shade of red. Before he could reply Lance’s lips were on his.

It was a short kiss, and it was so soft that Shiro wouldn’t have believed that it happened if it weren’t for Lance’s giggles once they pulled away. He was stunned for a moment, processing what happened in his head. Coughing, he pulled away from Lance, not quite looking him in the eye.   


“We should probably head back now,”

Shiro could see Lance deflate a little, before nodding. He held his arm out for the boy, walking back towards his hotel.

* * *

 

Once they got back to Lance’s hotel, Shiro took the elevator with Lance, wanting to escort him back to his room. The walk back to the hotel was silent, and Shiro knew that Lance was a little sad to have the date end so early, but he couldn’t help it. Shiro didn’t want to come on too strong, even though he wanted nothing more than to kiss the living daylights out of him. He just couldn’t allow himself to mess this up.

When they finally reached Lance’s room Shiro stood next to the door, watching as Lance slid in his room key, the light blinking green as the door unlocked. Once the door was open Shiro smiled at Lance, waving goodbye.

“Well, I’ll see you later,”

Just as Shiro was about to leave he heard Lance’s voice call out to him:

“Wait!”

Turning around, Shiro looked at him, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “Do you need something?”

Lance’s eyes shifted towards the floor, looking anywhere but at Shiro. “Do you, not feel attracted to me?”

Shiro felt his face scrunch slightly, not sure where this came from. “Of course I’m attracted to you, why do you ask?”

Lance sighed, looking up at him. “Well, when we kissed you didn’t even move, and you didn’t want to look me in the eye. Are you just trying to ‘entertain’ me? I get that we’re soulmates, so you might feel obligated to—”

Shiro cut him off by pressing his lips to his, cupping Lance’s face with both of his hands. Once they pulled away Shiro’s cheeks were tinted pink, a sheepish look on his face.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I just,” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “I don’t want to mess this up by being too forward. I mean, we  _ just  _ met.”

Lance looked at him, his lips parted. Shiro looked away as Lance bit his lip in thought.

“What if I’m ready now?”

Shiro whipped his head to look back at him, his head tilted slightly. “What?”

Lance gave him an exasperated look. “Shiro, I’ve been waiting just as long as you have, and I don’t wanna wait anymore.”

That was all the convincing that Shiro needed as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him, picking up Lance along the way. Lance held onto his shoulders, kissing and nipping at the other’s neck. As Lance attacked Shiro’s neck he could feel hesitation in Shiro’s grip. Looking up at him, he sighed.

“What  _ now? _ ”

“Which bed is yours?”

Lance laughed, nuzzling his forehead on Shiro’s. “The left one.”

Shiro gently set down Lance on his bed, sitting next to him. Lance shifted to sit on Shiro’s lap, lightly placing a kiss on the tip of his nose. Shiro grinned, capturing Lance’s lips with his. His hands were roaming Lance’s body as his tongue brushed against his lips, a silent cue. Lance obliged, letting him in. His fingers threaded through Shiro’s hair, tugging slightly, causing a quiet groan to fall from the other’s lips. 

Shiro pulled away from Lance, tugging at the hem of his shirt. He looked at him, lust practically emanating from him.

“Can I?”

Lance nodded his head furiously, helping him take off his shirt. Once his shirt was off and discarded, he made quick work of Shiro’s shirt, wasting no time to get it off. He could hear him chuckle, but Lance didn’t pay attention, instead attacking his chest with open mouth kisses. Shiro moaned, gripping Lance’s hips tightly, keeping him in place.

As Lance was making his way towards Shiro’s zipper, the door opening caught both of their attention:

“Hey Lance! I bought some snacks I thought you might like—”

Hunk froze, nearly dropping his bag. He took a deep breath before walking straight towards the bathroom, popping his head out.

“I’m just gonna, yeah,”

With that, he shut the door, the small click of the lock filling the room. Lance looked towards Shiro, who seemed to be holding in his laughter. He hit him on the chest, pouting.

“It’s not funny!”

Shiro smiled, caressing Lance’s face with his hand. Lance grumbled, pulling off of him to grab Shiro’s shirt, tossing it at him. 

“Hurry up and put this on,”

He did as told, putting on his shirt, covering the marks that were already developing. He stood up, smiling as Lance crossed his arms, looking away from Shiro.

“Hey, I’ll see you soon?” 

Lance looked up at him, a small smile on his face. “Yeah, see you,”

Shiro bent down to give him one last kiss, one that was far too gentle for what they were just doing. He smiled, standing up straight and heading towards the door, but not before waving one last time. Lance laughed, waving back. 

Once the door shut, Lance sighed, flopping down on his bed.

“You can come out now!”

There was silence for a few seconds, before the bathroom door opened, revealing a glaring Hunk. Once he sat on the bed, he looked Lance right in the eye.

“Okay, new rule: no fucking your boyfriend in the  _ shared  _ bedroom. Ever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated! :)


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to anyone who saw the weird chapter ten before this i'm so sorry and i'm gonna give an explanation:
> 
> so like, i set up the "skeleton" of the chapter before anything because it's a little taxing when i finish a chapter and then i have to set up this shit, so that's why there was a bunch of "the" in the chapter. so like, that's why it happened and lets forget that i was an idiot and posted it
> 
> also this chapter is purely about Pidge and Allura because i love my girls

The soft ringtone of Pidge’s computer filled the room, causing a small smile to find its way on the girls face. Getting up from her bed she walked over to her desk, accepting the call. A figure appeared on screen, her white hair filling up half of the screen.

“Hey ‘Lura,”

Allura smiled, waving at her. “Hello! It’s not  _ too  _ late there, is it?”

Pidge shook her head, smiling. “It’s only eight, and besides, we both know that I don’t sleep.”

Allura rolled her eyes, sighing. “I wish you wouldn’t pull all-nighters, it can’t be good for your health,”

“If I didn’t do all-nighters then we wouldn’t have met and then we both would’ve died alone,”

“Oh Katie,  _ I  _ wouldn’t die alone.”

Pidge let out an offended gasp, making Allura laugh. She looked away from the camera, pouting slightly. 

“Don’t be like that, you know I tolerate you,”

Pidge glared at her, her glasses slipping down her nose bridge slightly. “You know, I’m just gonna turn you off then,”

Allura shook her head, an amused smile playing on her lips. “No, how else will you know about how my trip has been?”

“That’s just another reason of why I should hang up,”

Allura pouted, her bottom lip sticking out slightly. Pidge put a hand to her eyes, shielding her. 

“Nope, not getting me with that bullshit.”She heard Allura snicker before she pulled her hands away from her eyes. When she looked at the computer screen, she smirked.

“So, how’s the trip so far?”

Allura looked at her, an eyebrow raised. “I thought you didn’t care about my trip?”

Pidge stared at her flatly, clearly unamused. “Just start talking about your damn trip.”

Allura smiled before giving the details about her trip. She talked about how her flight was delayed because of the weather conditions, and how she almost freaked out on one of the flight attendants because of it. Then she talked about when she finally got to her hotel, she had to wait about an hour because her “room wasn’t ready”. Pidge had to stifle a laugh when Allura went into detail about how she told the manager about how she was going to actually jump them if her room wasn’t ready soon. 

After the whole ordeal with her room, Allura told Pidge about how she barely had four hours of sleep because she had to wake up early for her tour the next day.

“Why didn’t you just skip it?” Pidge asked, yawning slightly.

Allura huffed, crossing her arms. “I already paid a lot of money for the tour, and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste!”

Pidge rolled her eyes, knowing that the other girl was definitely not one to waste money. She listened to Allura ramble on about her trip, hearing about the beautiful temple they went to and the nice lunch they had

“I met these guys who were on a culinary trip,” 

Pidge felt her eyebrows raise slightly. “Yeah?”

Allura nodded her head. “Yeah, and one of the guys found out that his soulmate was the tour guide,” She paused a moment to take a sip of her water, “Oh my god Katie, you should’ve seen this guy. He was a complete mess.”

Pidge laughed, earning an exasperated smile from Allura.

“I had to help him with his soulmate problems,”

Pidge snorted. “Well, you didn’t  _ have  _ to,”

Allura threw her hands up in the air. “What was I supposed to do? Let him flounder? The poor boy was already nervous as is!”

Pidge gave her a look, wanting to make fun of her for how adorable she was being. Looking back at the girl she felt herself smiling.

“You know, the guy you’re talking about kind of reminds me of my friend,”

Allura tilted her head. “How so?”

“Well, he’s always whining about how much he wants to meet his soulmate, almost to the point where I want to strangle him,”

Allura laughed at that, covering her mouth with her hand. Pidge sighed, rubbing her face.

“Yeah, but I know that he’s just nervous about it. He’s never really had a partner, so I’d imagine that he’s extremely nervous,”

Allura nodded her head, an understanding look on her face. She snickered lightly. “Who knows, maybe we’re talking about the same person.”

Pidge shrugged her shoulders. “It’s possible. After all, my friends are also in Japan,”

“What’re their names?”

Pidge yawned before responding: “Lance and Hunk,”

There was a silence that filled the room before Pidge looked at Allura, her head tilted slightly.

“Did you actually—”

Allura’s face lit up in excitement. “I met your friends!”

Pidge felt her jaw drop slightly, her mouth wide open. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Allura’s eyebrows knit together, confusion written all over her face. “What’s wrong?”

Pidge huffed, pulling out her phone. “That bitch didn’t tell me he found his fucking soulmate!”

Allura sighed, although a smile was forming on her face. “Pidge, you know I hate it when you swear,”

Pidge gave her an apologetic look before she scrolled through her phone until she landed on Lance’s number. She pressed his number to call him, but not before waving a small goodbye to Allura, who was currently laughing at the whole scenario. At first her call went to voicemail, causing Pidge to groan in frustration. She hung up and decided to call Hunk next, knowing that he would pick up.

Like she predicted, Hunk picked up her call in a couple of rings.

“Hello?” Hunk’s voice came through in his usual happy tone.

“Give the phone to Lance.” Pidge said, not bothering with formalities.

Hunk snickered, pulling the phone away from his face to give to Lance. Pidge could hear him getting Lance’s attention, then handing the phone to him. If she weren’t so offended, she would laugh at the mini argument that Lance and Hunk were currently having.

“Hello?”

Pidge wasted no time with answering: “Lance you whore you found your soulmate and didn’t tell me?”

“What? How did you—”

“Tell me  _ everything, _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are appreciated :)


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow it's been a fat minute since i've posted. this is slightly shorter, but i still think it's good

It had been a couple of days after Lance and Shiro made up, and Shiro doesn’t think he’s had as much fun in his entire life as he’s had in the past few days. He was so grateful to have Lance in his life, even if he’s only been there for a short time. Shiro honestly couldn’t think of a world without Lance in it. Looking down at his arm, he smiled, tracing over the words left on there. Last night they were talking about random topics that came to them. Occasionally Lance had to explain to him some of the American terms.

_I’m not sure I understand. Isn’t “sick” a word you use to say you aren’t feeling well?_

**_Yeah, but we also use it to say that something’s cool_ **

_That makes no sense._

**_Takashi, I don’t know either_ **

_America is confusing_

Shiro laughed to himself, still confused on the usage of “sick” in normal conversations. His attention was drawn away from his arm when he heard his ringtone. Glancing at his phone, he saw his mother’s name flashing. Sitting up slightly, he moved to grab his phone, quickly answering it.  
“Mom? What’s up?”

“Takashi where are you?”

He yawned, rubbing his eyes a bit. “I’m at my apartment, why?”

He could hear his mother talking to someone else, probably his dad. She was talking too quickly for Shiro to retain any of it. When she sighed, he could tell she was back on the phone.

“You need to come to the hospital. Quickly.”

Shiro sat up, shock taking over his sleepy state. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But your brother just got admitted into the emergency room.”

Shiro threw himself out of bed, rushing to put on some clothes. “I’ll be there soon,”

* * *

It was times like this where Shiro wished he had a car. Transportation in Japan definitely favors the train system rather than cars. But if he had a car, he would’ve been able to speed over to the hospital, rather than having to wait for his train to come while praying that he’d make it in time. Normally, he’d be courteous towards the elderly, letting them off the train before himself, but now he was pushing through people, not caring about the nasty looks he’d get. 

He made it to the hospital in thirty minutes, mainly due to the train schedule. Rushing through the front doors, Shiro whipped his head around, looking for his parents. When he saw no signs of them, he walked over towards the receptionist.

“Excuse me, what room is Sora Shirogane in?”

The receptionist looked up at him, eyeing him through her glasses. “Room 104. Go left and it should be the second door on your left.”

Shiro thanked the lady before hurrying over. Once he reached it he saw his parents sitting outside of the room. Walking over to them he placed a hand on his mother’s shoulder.

“Hey, what happened?”

His mother turned towards him, keeping a straight face. “Sora’s disease is developing much quicker than anyone thought.”

Shiro took in a deep breath to keep the tears from falling. Looking towards the door, he wondered if he was even allowed to go in there.  
“He was waiting for you,” His father said, as if reading his mind.

Shiro nodded, patting his mother’s shoulder one more time before entering his brother’s room. When he was inside, he felt his heart break. 

There were many times where Shiro remembered being in a hospital room. Of course, half of those were due to the treatment he himself had received for his prosthetic. But the other half he remembers sitting next to his brother, talking about his day at school while Sora would have a content smile on his face, or as content as someone could be while strapped up to a hospital machine. Shiro shook his head, pushing himself out of those thoughts, instead opting to take the seat next to his brother. He smiled when Sora opened his eyes.

“Hey bro, how you feeling?”

Sora smiled slightly, attempting to sit up. Shiro held his hands out, moving to push him back down.

“You shouldn’t stress your body out.”

Sora rolled his eyes, but relented, laying back down. “I didn’t think my own brother would become such a mother hen,”

Shiro looked at him, a confused look on his face. “You need to stop taking clients from America, they’re a bad influence on you.”

He laughed, moving his hand to rest over his stomach. Shiro tried his best to appear optimistic, even though seeing his brother all wrapped around some tubes made him worry. Looking around, Shiro noticed there were more machines in there then last time, only feeding into his worry. Sora seemed to notice this, as his face shifted into a more grim look.

“Taka, you know—“

Shiro shook his head, a smile plastered on his face. “You should save your energy. You’ll really need it once you get back to little Misaki,”

Sora’s face seemed to shift into a more negative one at the mention of his daughter. “Taka, we both—“

“And mom will want to throw you some sort of party, you know, because she celebrates every little thing,” Shiro interrupted, not looking at his brother.

“Taka—“

“Dad will be glad too. He won’t admit it, but he sure does—“

“Takashi.” Sora interrupted, his eyes set on Shiro’s rambling figure.

Shiro’s attention snapped towards him, tears already welling up in his eyes. When Sora was sure that he wasn’t going to speak, he cleared his throat.

“You and I both know that I won’t be so lucky this time. So I need you to promise me something.”

Shiro nodded, grabbing his hands to brace himself.

“I need you to promise me that you’ll take care of Misaki, that you’ll take care of mom and dad—“

“Of course I will, you didn’t need to ask that,”

Sora looked at him, a sad smile resting on his face. “And I need you to promise me that, when the right girl comes along, you’ll be happy and settle down with her.”

Shiro felt himself tense up. He hadn’t told anyone that he’d met his soulmate, his male soulmate. But looking at his brother, he couldn’t bare to tell him about it. Instead, he wiped away some stray tears that fell, and smiled.

“I promise,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahahahahah (also comments are appreciated!)


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry

3:47 am. Sora Shirogane’s heart had stopped beating. It was early in the morning when Shiro heard the monotone beep of the heart rate monitor to the left of him. Panic racing in his heart, he slowly turned around, feeling his gut drop at the sight of the straight line. He rushed out of the room, calling out for his parents. Once he got the attention of both his parent’s and Sora’s doctor, they all rushed back into the room. The look on Shiro’s face was nothing short of horror. Looking down at his feet, he realized that he’d never be able to hear his brother’s voice again, or see him smile. He’d never be able to tell him about his soulmate, and how he’s nothing like what Sora would picture. Shiro could feel himself spiraling, throwing himself into a downward spiral until he felt a tingling sensation on his arm:

**_Hey babe, you up?_ **

When those words were left on his skin, Shiro couldn’t help but feel guilt, as if he were betraying his brother. “ _And I need you to promise me that, when the right girl comes along, you’ll be happy and settle down with her.”_  Shiro looked down once more before responding:

_Unfortunately, yes_

**_Well, now you’re talking to me, so it can’t be that bad!_ **

_Why are you up so early? Shouldn’t you be sleeping right now? Isn’t this bad for your “beauty” regime?_

Shiro remembered about the conversation he shared with Lance about how he needed his “beauty sleep”. As if Lance could be any more beautiful.

**_I’m not gonna justify that with an answer._ **

Shiro laughed before feeling the same sensation, Lance writing something down:

**_Anyways, I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date a little later? It’s my last day here so I thought I’d spend it with you._ **

On any other day, Shiro would jump at the opportunity to see Lance’s face again. But with Sora’s last words hanging down on him, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

_I don’t think I can._

**_Is everything okay?_ **

Shiro felt himself flinch at that question. He didn’t want to tell Lance the truth. If Shiro could save him from the mess of his insecurities and doubts, he’d do it in a heartbeat. But instead, he decided to write:

_Everything’s fine. I just don’t want to see you._

There was a pang of guilt that rushed through him, he didn’t want to make Lance feel like this. But if he could make Lance hate him, then at least he wouldn’t have to deal with the slow and painful disease of unrequited love.

**_What?_ **

_I said I don’t want to see you. This was just what you American’s call a “fling”_

**_Takashi you can’t just have a “fling” with your soulmate, are you fucking kidding me?_ **

Shiro could feel his heart breaking apart. Holding back his tears, he read the final thing Lance wrote:

**_Fine. I hate you_ **

* * *

After crying for what seemed like hours, Sora’s doctor came out and told Shiro about his brother:

“I’m sorry Mr. Shirogane, but there was nothing we could do to prevent it.”

Shiro nodded his head, wiping any stray tears away from his face. His throat felt congested and his eyes were puffy. Walking over to his parents he wrapped his mother in his arms. He held her tighter when she began to sob openly, protesting that it wasn’t fair and that he was too young. Shiro tried his best to keep a straight face, knowing that he needed to be strong for her. Looking at his father, he noticed the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. He stood like that for a while, just holding his mother as she cried. Eventually she let go, telling him that they were going home to prepare for a ceremony. Shiro waved goodbye, heading back to his home. He took one last glance at Sora’s room, before heading back.

Shiro’s trip back was an enduring one. He had to make a stop to grab some groceries, as he was caring for two now. Next, he went over to his parent’s house, picking up his little niece, Misaki. When she asked him where her dad was he felt his facade cracking. Instead of answering, he told her that Sora was in a better place, and in the mean time, she would be staying with him. Thankfully, she didn’t ask any other questions, happily going along with Shiro. Once they got to his apartment, he put on a cartoon to keep Misaki occupied while he prepared dinner.

The dinner they had together was the one bright spot of Shiro’s day. Misaki went on about her day, talking about her tea party with her stuffed animals and imaginary friends. She talked about how next time she’d invite Shiro to her party, but he’d need to wear a tiara, just like her dad did. Shiro felt his smile slip at that line, before replacing it with a fake one. 

Putting Misaki down to sleep proved to be a difficult feat. Like most children, she was overly hyper and not willing to sleep. She dodged and weaved through Shiro, giggling as Shiro chased her around his tiny apartment. Eventually he caught her, laughing along with her. Since his apartment was only made for one person, he tucked her into his bed, deciding he’d sleep on the couch. As he was about to leave, he felt a tiny hand grasp his own. Looking down, he saw Misaki staring at him, a small smile on her face.

“When’s daddy coming back?”

Shiro felt himself freeze. Looking down at her hopeful face. Sighing, he kneeled down to her side, brushing away stray hairs from her face.

“Misa, daddy’s not coming back. He’s with your mom right now,”

He felt the broken remnants of his heart break even more at the sad expression on her face. Squishing her cheeks slightly, he smiled at her.

“It’s just us now. That’s not so bad, is it?”

She shook her head rapidly, a small smile forming on her face. Sitting up, Misaki wrapped her little arms around Shiro’s neck, squishing herself. He smiled, wrapping his arms gently around her.  
“You’re not gonna leave me, right uncle Takashi?” She asked softly.

Shiro shook his head, gently setting her back down, tucking her under the covers again. “Never.”

* * *

It’d been a couple of hours since Shiro put Misaki to bed. His throat was killing him, it felt as if he’d been screaming for days. He coughed lightly, in an attempt to clear his throat. It didn’t help, as he felt something in his throat. Rushing to the bathroom, he threw himself on the floor, praying to god that he didn’t get the flu, although it’d be fitting for how his day was going. Instead, Shiro coughed into his hands, a horrified look on his face when he pulled them away. 

Sitting in between his hands was a single blue petal, covered in his own blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'M REALLY SORRY


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're heading towards the finale y'all

It was the next day and Lance was having flashbacks to their difficult time getting _into_ Japan. Lance had spent the whole night crying in anger, causing him to sleep in accidentally, causing both him and Hunk to miss their shuttle to the airport. When trying to check out of the hotel, they were having an issue with the pricing, claiming that the pair had accumulated over one hundred US dollars in snacks and drinks. By this point Lance was too agitated to say anything so Hunk had to explain to the concierge that no, they didn’t take anything from the mini-fridge, and no, he wasn’t going to pay for it. Once Hunk finally got everything settled and they were checked out, they had missed the second shuttle for the airport, forcing them to wait another thirty minutes in the humid air. 

The only fortunate thing that came out of the entire day was the fact that they didn’t miss their flight, even with all the mess that happened earlier in the day. Boarding the plane was the most exciting part of the entire process, as when they finally landed, they’d be home. 

Sighing, Lance flopped down into his seat, resting his head against the window. Hunk smiled sympathetically, sitting down in the seat next to him. He’d hadn’t asked Lance about what happened yesterday, and as much as Hunk’s curiosity ate at him, he knew better than to poke at the sleep deprived boy. Instead, Hunk pulled out a bag of chips from his bag, offering it to Lance as some sort of peace offering. Lance looked at him skeptically, before smiling and taking the bag.

“You know I’m not mad at you, right?”

Hunk nodded his head, grinning. “I know. But I also know that you didn’t eat anything today.”

Lance snorted, quickly opening the bag and shoving some chips into his mouth. The two of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes before someone caught their attention.

“Hunk? Lance?”

Looking up, Lance’s eyes widened slightly, a smile on his face as he waved towards the familiar girl. He swallowed before speaking: “Hey Allura, you’re on this flight too?”

She nodded her head, taking her seat next to Hunk, who greeted her as well. “Yes. I’m glad I don’t have to sit next to complete strangers,”

Hunk raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought you lived in England?”

Allura nodded her head, her eyes sparkling slightly. “I do, but I’m surprising my soulmate.”

Hunk cooed at the girl, immediately going into a conversation with her about how much they adored their soulmates. Lance smiled at them, although he couldn’t help but feel a bitter pang in his chest. Of course, out of all people, he’d be the one who’s soulmate didn’t love him. As much as he wanted to pester Shiro, there was something in him that was holding him back. 

Pulling him out of his thoughts, a familiar name came through. Lance looked over at Allura, who was currently gushing about her soulmate.

“I’m sorry, who’d you say your soulmate is?”

Allura smiled, a dreamy look on her face. “Her name is Katie, but she also goes by—“

“Pidge, that gremlin!” Lance exclaimed, looking over at Hunk.

She tilted her head slightly, her smile not wavering. “Yes, she told me about you two,”

Lance felt his cheeks heat up while Hunk let out a laugh. Allura went on to talk about how Pidge would tell her embarrassing stories, from Hunk crying at two in the morning about why snakes don’t have arms to hitting Lance in the face with a baseball.

“Okay first of all, I did nothing wrong. Secondly, it was her stupid robotics project,” Lance grumbled, crossing his arms.

Allura laughed, unable to hold it in any longer. Lance huffed out a breath of air, an evil smirk creeping onto his face.

“Well, has Pidge told you about the time she was so sleep deprived that she once walked into a wall and then tried to pick a fight with it?”

She snorted, shaking her head. Hunk smiled mischievously. 

“This is gonna be a fun flight.”

* * *

 

Two days after the death of Sora, Shiro was steadily coughing up a stream of flower petals. Instead of just blue, the petals seemed to be coming in all sorts of hues, ranging from the deepest blue to the lightest pink. He felt as if he was being suffocated, sometimes he wouldn’t be able to breathe. Of course, he kept this away from Misaki, making sure that she wasn’t anywhere near him when the petals came up. If she saw traces of them, he’d just brush it off and say that he bought some flowers for her. Shiro honestly couldn’t tell what was worse: being suffocated by flower petals or lying to Misaki about it. 

Shiro tried extremely hard to stop thinking about Lance, but with every flower that emerged from his lungs he couldn’t help it. Every coughing fit he had, every suffocating breath he took, brought him back to the guilt he tried so hard to forget. He knew that he would have to take care of this, or else he’d be breaking his promise to his brother and Misaki. 

Feeling a tug on his hand, Shiro turned his head, a small smile forming on his lips when he saw Misaki’s pouting face.

“What’s up, Misa?”

“You said we’re going to grandma and grandpa’s house! We’re gonna be late!” She said, tugging his hand towards the front door of his apartment. 

Shiro rolled his eyes, opting to scoop the little girl into his arms. “Alright, alright, we’re going,”

Misaki squealed in glee as Shiro carried her out. He laughed as she went to talk to her doll about how excited she was to see her grandparents. 

Once they made it to his parents house, he let Misaki loose, allowing her to run around and stretch her legs. Shiro smiled at his parents, going to hug his mother. They quietly talked about Sora and what they were going to do for his funeral. Shiro held his mother tighter when he noticed her eyes filling with tears. 

As he made conversation with his parents, he felt his lungs being filled up again, constricting his airway. He let out a tiny cough, which only led to a string of coughs, getting significantly worse each second. Feeling his parents eyes on him, Shiro politely excused himself, heading straight towards the bathroom.

Shiro barely made it in the bathroom when he felt the first petal escape his lips. Positioning himself in front of the toilet, he felt another coughing fit coming up. A significant amount of petals came out this time, creating a rainbow of sorts. Purple, red, and yellow petals were coming out of his mouth. His chest felt constricted, as if there were roots taking place right in his lungs. Shiro was too preoccupied with emptying his lungs that he didn’t hear the bathroom door opening. A gasp, however, notified him that his privacy had been breeched. Looking up from the toilet, he saw the horrified look on his father’s face, as if he’d just seen a ghost. Turning away, he wiped his mouth, noticing the blood that showed up on his hand. Shiro felt a hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles as he coughed another round of petals onto the floor, this time white with blue tips. 

Once his coughing fit was over, he turned towards his father, who was struggling to keep a calm appearance. Before either of them could speak, Shiro’s mother entered the room, gasping at the scene in front of her. She ran out of the room, most likely to keep Misaki away, before returning. Both of his parents helped him stand, moving him to the dining room. When they finally reached it, Shiro felt his mother’s hand on top of his. Meeting her eyes, he noticed tears streaming down her face. He smiled sadly, wiping them away with his other hand.

“Hey, it’s not that bad,”

She looked at him, not seeming to appreciate his attempt at lightening the situation. Instead, she shook her head. “When did this happen?”

He looked down at his hands. “Two days ago,”

Shiro’s father looked at him, his facade wavering slightly. “When did you meet her?”

Shiro felt himself flinch at that question. He knew that he’d need to tell them about his sexuality, and now was a better time than any he supposed. “I met _him_ last week, on one of my tours.”

He noticed the slight shift in demeanor in his parents, how they subtly looked at each other, then back at him. He also noticed how his mother’s jaw tightened slightly, her tears halting for a minute. Shiro felt tears of his own burn at the corners of his eyes. He didn’t even know that they had fallen until his mother quickly wiped them away with her thumb. Looking up at her, he saw a small smile, not the plastered one he was expecting to receive. She cupped his face with her hands, forcing him to look at her.

“The world is too cruel to you, Takashi,” She hiccuped slightly, more tears streaming down, “You deserve better than this.”

He smiled at her, before a broken sob came out of him. She held him close to her chest, petting his hair soothingly as he cried into her chest, reminiscent of when he was a little kid. Shiro felt his father’s hand on his back. 

Once there were no more tears left to cry, Shiro’s father cleared his throat. “So, what’s your plan, Takashi?”

Shiro moved his head away from his mother, his shoulders slightly slumped. “I’ll get the flowers removed.”

He heard his mother gasp at that. “You know what’ll happen if you do that, you can’t—“

“I don’t have a _choice_ mom, it’s not like I’m just looking out for myself anymore,” Shiro interrupted, looking over at Misaki, who was currently oblivious to their conversation.

His mother’s eyes drifted over to Misaki as well, before looking back at him. She sighed, touching his cheek gently. “You deserve _so_ much better,”

Shiro smiled sadly, patting his mother’s shoulders. After a couple of seconds he stood up, saying that it was time for them to go. He walked over to Misaki, who was currently playing with her doll. 

“Hey sweetie, it’s time to go,”

She squinted at him, pointing at his eyes. “Why’re your eyes red?”

He smiled, lying through his teeth: “I think I’m allergic to something here. Are you ready to go?”

Misaki nodded, taking Shiro’s hand. They waved goodbye to his parents, heading towards the door before his father called out to him.

“Takashi!”

He turned around, a confused look on his face. His father walked over to the kitchen counter, returning with a folded piece of paper in his hand. He gave it to Shiro, a sad expression crossing his features.

“The doctors found this in Sora’s room, it’s addressed to you,”

Shiro felt the air knocked out of him. He silently took the note, nodding his head. He waved goodbye again, then walked out of the door.

Once they were out he quickly opened the note. Scanning it, he noticed it said the same things that Sora had said to him before, to take care of his daughter and their parents. Continuing down, he looked down at the bottom of the note, feeling his breath taken away from him for a second time today.

_“Overall, I want you to be happy. No matter who or what brings you happiness, you should never let go of it. You deserve to live the rest of your life in peace, more than anyone on this planet.”_

Shiro thought back to Lance, and how happy the American boy made him. Feeling a small pit of determination, he looked back to his arm, where their last conversation took place.

He needed to make things right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm thinking that there's gonna be two more chapters left, then we'll be all done :(  
> maybe i'll put in some bonus ones when this is finished


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys, g u y s, the next chapter is the last chapter

There were many things Shiro could’ve done to get Lance’s attention. He could’ve pestered the other boy by filling his arms with a full five pages of why he’s sorry and how he was an idiot, he could’ve called Hunk and begged him to talk to Lance, to explain why he did what he did and how big of a dumbass he was being. Of all the options Shiro could’ve chosen, settling his place, taking a job in America as a teacher of finances, and then getting the first flight out of Japan was the most drastic plan he’d come up with. He, of course, told his parents about his plan to win back his soulmate, and they supported him wholeheartedly. They understood that Shiro needed to leave, not only to win back Lance, but to also get away from the sorrow of Sora’s passing. When he told Misaki about them moving to America she was ecstatic. All she could think about was making new friends and seeing a new place.

In a matter of a week, Shiro gave back his apartment keys to the landlord, shipped all of his things to Seattle, where, thankfully, Hunk told him where they lived, and headed towards the airport. It was difficult to travel through the subway system, as he couldn’t help the petals that would escape from his lips occasionally. Thankfully, Misaki didn’t seem to notice, as she was too busy blabbering on about what she wanted to do when they made it.

“Do you think it’ll be as warm as here?” She asked him, holding his hand tightly as they made their way off the train.

Shiro smiled down at her. “I don’t know, kid, I heard that it rains a lot there,”

He noticed Misaki’s nose scrunch up a bit, from the prospect of the dreary rain. He squeezed her hand gently, gaining her attention.

“Hey, that just means we’ll be able to stay inside and build a blanket fort. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

She nodded her head enthusiastically, suddenly gaining a boost of energy. He laughed at her antics, walking quicker to catch up to her. 

It took them about thirty minutes to get through all of security, and two hours for their flight to board. In the meantime, Shiro kept Misaki occupied with different games, like “I spy” and “20 questions”, although the latter one required a bit more concentration on Misaki’s part. She grew hungry quickly, to which Shiro went and bought her a happy meal from McDonalds, even though he swore he’d never feed her anything bad. She didn’t seem to mind though, as she pretended to share her food with her doll.

Once they finally boarded their plane, he made sure that Misaki sat next to the window, so she wouldn’t have to sit next to a stranger. He could tell that the person next to him, though, had a problem. It was no secret that Shiro was a muscular man. His shoulders were also quite broad, making him possibly one of the worst seat mates on a tiny, cramped plane. He did try his best though, attempting to fold in on himself, which only seemed to make it worse, as now his shoulder blades were in the way. Eventually Shiro gave up, sinking back into his seat, not caring about what the other man would say.

Over the course of the ten hour flight, Shiro was surprised to only have to run to the bathroom three times to cough up petals. The only thing that frightened him was the fact that in his last session of flower spitting, a small flower bud came out instead of the usual petal. He shook off the dreadful feeling of death being near, and dedicated his time on the plane to Misaki.

* * *

 

Finally back home, Lance grinned, running out of the terminal. He finally turned off airplane mode on his phone, which only opened an onslaught of messages:

**[Support Center™]**

**Pidgeon, 1:42pm:** hey homo, when does your flight land

**Pidgeon, 1:50pm:** dude

**Pidgeon, 1:51pm:** bro

**Pidgeon, 1:54pm:** wait are you on it now?

**Pidgeon, 1:58pm:** text me when you get off, i’m at the airport

Lance laughed, looking over at Hunk who seemed to have gotten the messages as well. Turning his head back to his phone, he quickly replied:

**[Support Center™]**

**Me, 5:03pm:** we’re here, nerd

**Me, 5:03pm:** where are you?

**Pidgeon, 5:04pm:** jesus, FINALLY. i’m at baggage claim, hurry up

**Hunkry, 5:04pm:** we have a surprise for you ;)

Lance looked over at Hunk and Allura, who merely smiled back at him. He waited for the pair to catch up to them so they could walk together to get their luggage. Lance linked arms with Allura, giving her a cheerful smile.

“You know your girlfriend’s here, right?”

She smiled, nodding her head as she tugged him along. “Yes, which is why we need to hurry. She’s been here for hours,”

The three of them walked out of the terminal, going into customs. It took a much longer time, since they needed to wait for Allura to go through the foreigner’s area. Once they were all done, they quickly walked over to baggage claim, where they were met with a gigantic sign with tons of glitter that read: “WHERE ARE MY SONS”. It didn’t help that Pidge used the most horrendous photos of Hunk and Lance from high school, which caused the pair to gasp in offense. Standing next to her was a taller figure, who’s highlighter yellow hair could be spot from anywhere.

“Shay!” Hunk gasped, rushing over to wrap her in a hug, lifting her off the ground slightly.

She giggled, returning the gesture. As they were entrapped in their own conversation, Pidge looked over at Lance, and he only wished that he’d taken a photo of the moment. She was completely stunned, unable to get out any words as Allura walked over to her, a small smile on her face.

“Hello, Katie. It’s good to see you,”

Seeming to get out of her funk, she immediately pulled Allura down to her height, kissing her lightly on the cheek before tugging her into a hug.

“I can’t believe it’s you!” She said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Allura laughed, wrapping her arms tightly around her while burying her face in the crook of Pidge’s neck. Lance smiled, feeling happiness fill his heart at his best friend’s being in love. He couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness at the sight, wishing he could have something like that. Instead of dwelling on it, he shook his head, going to join his friends, who were currently laughing and smiling. Pidge walked over to him, shoving his shoulder slightly, a grin playing on her lips.

“So, tell me how Japan went,”

* * *

 

It was the next day and Lance never thought he’d be happier to wake up in his own bed. Walking over to the bathroom, he rinsed off his sleeping mask, then brushed his teeth. He fumbled for his glasses, being cautious as to not break them. As soon as he was done in the bathroom, he heard his phone buzzing. Looking at it, he saw an unknown number flashing across the screen. Picking up his phone, he answered the call.

“Hello?”

“ _Misaki, please don’t touch that—_ Lance? Is that you?”

Lance felt himself freeze. It took all of his willpower to not drop his phone and run. He took a deep breath, clearing his throat.

“Why are you calling me? How did you get my phone number?”

“Hunk gave it to me. I want to clear some things up,”

Lance’s jaw tighten. _Of course Hunk would give Shiro his number._ “You made things pretty clear last time we talked.”

“Lance please, let me explain—“

“Explain what? That you don’t want to be with me? That you were just _toying_ with me? This isn’t a fucking game, Takashi. You can’t do this to me.”

“Please, I promise I can explain if you just let me—“

Shiro was cut off by a sudden fit of coughing, flowers filling his lungs again. Lance’s eyebrow’s furrowed slightly at the sound. “Did you get sick?” He scoffed, running his tongue against his teeth, “You deserve it.”

“ _No, Misaki, I’m fine. I must’ve walked into some flowers or something, don’t touch them._ ”

Lance felt his eyes widen slightly. _Flowers?_ “Takashi, what are you talking about?”

Before he even got an answer, he heard a knock on the door. Walking over cautiously, he looked through the peephole, gasping when he saw Shiro on the other side, a small girl holding onto his hand. Flinging the door open, he looked at him, a horrified look on his face.

Blue and purple flower petals were stuck on his jacket, most likely due to the blood that was coating them. Under further examination, Shiro seemed to be paler and more tired looking, as there were bags under his eyes and his shoulders were slumped. Tilting his head, Lance looked at the man, crossing his arms.

“How did you get my address?”

Shiro sent him a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck. Lance sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Hunk? Again?”

Shiro nodded his head, not looking at his eyes. “Can we talk?”

Lance’s lips form a flat line, clearly unamused. Rubbing his face, he motioned for the two of them to come in. “You didn’t really give me a choice.”

Shiro ushered in the little girl, telling her to go and sit down on the couch and play with her doll. Lance watched her nod happily and head over to his couch, not minding the serious aura omitting from the two of them. He looked over at Shiro and pointed towards his bedroom, which Shiro took as a sign and walked over to his room. Once they made it, Lance sat down on his bed, looking at up him for an explanation.

“So? Why are you here?”

Shiro cleared his throat, praying that he wouldn’t do anything embarrassing, like coughing up a bunch of flowers in front of his soulmate. “I know what I did was awful, and I had no right to do it. Everything I say might sound like an excuse, and maybe it is, but you deserve an explanation.”

“That day, when you and I were talking, My brother was taken to the hospital. Ever since we were little, he’s always been in and out of there, his heart was very weak and needed to be under constant supervision.”

“So when I made it to the hospital, I went inside to talk to him. He said he knew it’d be his last time, and he made me promise to take care of our parents, his child, and,” Shiro coughed slightly, thankful that no flowers came up, “ _and_ to find the perfect _girl_ and marry her.”

“Now, my family isn’t homophobic by any means, but I felt that if I couldn’t complete his wishes, then how lousy of a brother am I?”

Lance looked at him, his eyebrows furrowing. “Takashi, you’re not a lousy brother.”

Shiro smiled at him sadly. “After that I decided that I needed to fulfill my promises to him, and that’s when I told you all of those rotten things.”

Lance winced at the memory, looking down at his arm as if it would still be there.

“I thought, in my grief stricken brain, that I was doing the right thing. Shortly after the first petal came. Thankfully, Misaki was already asleep and I could hide it from her, but I knew that I needed to take care of it. So I scheduled an appointment to get rid of the flowers as a whole.”

Lance looked up at him, a gasp ripping through his throat. “Takashi—“

“I didn’t go through with it. Obviously,” He said, a smirk gracing his features before continuing with his story.

“The next day I went to my parents house to tell them that I’d be taking care of Misaki. They found out about the disease and I told them about my plan. They were worried about me, so I told them about you and how it wouldn’t work anymore. Before I left my father gave me a note that my brother wrote before he passed. In it, he reiterated his wishes for me to take care of the family and little Misaki.”

“But he also told me to be happy, and in that moment I realized that _you_ make me happy. I knew that I needed to at least _try,_ so I settled up my place and moved here.”

Lance looked at him, clearly shocked. “You _moved_ here?”

Shiro nodded his head. “Yes, I already found a job up here and it’s close to a good school for Misaki.”

Lance bit his lip, trying to process all the information that Shiro had just told him. Looking at the man, he couldn’t help but feel his heart ache. Even though Shiro had been a complete asshole to him, Lance had caused him just as much pain. Knowing that _he_ was the reason that Shiro was coughing up flowers, that he was _near death,_ caused Lance to feel so much pain. Reaching towards him, he placed his hand on top of Shiro’s.

“You know I can’t forgive you right away. You’ve caused me too much pain for it to all go away at the snap of a finger,” Lance said, looking into his eyes.

Shiro nodded his head frantically. “I know, but I’m willing to wait, and I promise you that I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

Lance smiled, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of Shiro’s hand. The two stayed like that for a while, before Shiro began to cough again. This time, however, no flowers came up. No petals, no whole flowers, _nothing._ Looking at Lance, his eyes widened slightly. 

“You, I, how—“

Lance placed a hand on his cheek, effectively silencing him. “It’s okay now, Takashi. You can breathe,”

Shiro felt tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes. Gently, he pulled Lance into a hug, holding him close to his chest. Lance allowed himself to be pulled into the hug, wrapping his arms around the other man.

“Thank you,” Shiro whispered, his voice so faint that Lance barely heard him.

“For what?” Lance asked, pulling away slightly.

Shiro smiled, resting his forehead on Lance’s.

“For loving me again,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much for putting up with my angst, and staying with me for the fluffy times


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh god we're at the end. well, i'd like to say thank you for reading and enjoying this fic! i never thought that it'd be as popular as it got, and i'm so glad you guys enjoyed it! of course, i'll probably add another part to this so i can go in depth about their happy domestic life, but for now, this is goodbye

A year later Lance had moved from his tiny apartment to Shiro’s moderately sized house. His lease was about to expire and Shiro had suggested that he move in with them. He joked that he could use an extra pair of hands to help with Misaki. Lance hadn’t even left room for Shiro to breathe before he said yes, quite enthusiastically.

They didn’t necessarily tell Misaki about them, but they didn’t try to hide it from her either. Eventually she understood what they were to each other and even started calling the both of them “dad”. The first time she called Shiro “dad” instead of “uncle Takashi” he started to tear up. He never thought that he’d ever want a kid, but now that he had one, he never wanted to let her go. Hearing her call him “dad” was probably one of the best days of his life, other than Lance forgiving him, and then proceeding to move in with him.

Speaking of Lance, he had gotten a job as a teacher’s aid for elementary school. It was his dream to become a teacher some day, it’s what he went to school for. With that being said, there was little free time that he had to spend with Shiro and Misaki, as he had more work than imaginable. He always made sure that he’d see Misaki at dinner, and tuck her in when Shiro was too busy with his own work. Although he definitely felt tired almost every day, he wouldn’t trade his life for anything in the world.

Both he and Shiro were back on loving terms. It took a month for Lance to finally be comfortable with Shiro again, and the other man was more than willing to wait for him. Lance remembers that everyday he’d wake up to the sound of Shiro knocking on his door, a single rose and coffee in his hand to greet him. After that they’d talk about anything going on in their lives; Shiro would talk about Misaki finally going to school and being extremely excited while Lance would talk about all of the kids in his class and how half of them would grow up to be douchebags. Eventually Lance got comfortable enough to finally do “couple” things: like holding hands, cuddling on the couch, kissing, going on dates. These few months had definitely been some of his favorites.

That’s why when he blew nearly three month’s paycheck on an engagement ring, he wasn’t necessarily upset. Sure, it was a lot of money for a plain gold band, but for Shiro, it was worth it. Sure, he would’ve liked to save that money up for something else, like helping Shiro with the bills, but he was sure that the other man wouldn’t mind if he had to skip a couple of month’s pay. In fact, Lance knew that for a _fact,_ because he had to pester Shiro about helping with the utilities bills, despite Shiro saying that he made enough money for them to live comfortably.

Now here Lance was, currently driving to Misaki’s school, the ring box sitting uncomfortably on his lap, with one hand on the steering wheel while the other one held the box with a death grip. His plan was to pick up Misaki, under the guise of wanting to spend more time with his new family member, then ask her about how she felt about Shiro and him getting married. Of course, it was going to be slightly difficult to explain all of this to a first grader, but hopefully she’d get the gist of it.

Waiting in his car, he felt a smile growing on his face when he saw Misaki running towards his car. Opening the door, she jumped in, a toothy grin plastered onto her face.

“Dad!”

Lance smiled at her, ignoring the erratic beating of his heart at the name. “Hey Misa. How was school?”

As Lance started the car she started going on about meeting new friends and telling them about Japan. occasionally he’d check in the rearview mirror to make sure that she was still buckled in. Shiro would have his head if anything happened to her. Once they were back at their house Lance parked the car and turned around in his seat, a nervous smile on his face.

“Hey Misa, can I ask you a question?”

She nodded her head enthusiastically. He took in a deep breath before asking: “How do you feel about me and your dad?”

Misaki tilted her head, almost as if she was thinking. “Happy.”

Lance smiled, feeling the nervousness in the pit of his stomach disappear. “You know how in those princess movies that you watch, the prince and princess always get married?”

She smiled, her lips stretching wide across her face. “The princess always looks so pretty!”

Lance nodded his head, grinning slightly. “Yes, they do. How would you feel if,” He pulled out the box, flipping it open for Misaki to see, “If I asked your dad to marry me?”

Misaki scrunched up her nose for a minute before responding. “Neither of you would wear a princess dress though,”

He laughed, poking her slightly. “You could wear one.”

Her eyes lit up at this notion. She started to bounce in her seat, a gleeful noise coming out of her mouth. “Okay!”

Lance looked at her, a soft smile appearing on his face. He held his finger to his lips, shushing her. “You can’t tell your dad, though. It’ll ruin the surprise.”

She nodded her head, moving her hands to motion her zipping her lips shut. Lance giggled, feeling a new sense of happiness fill him.

Now he was facing the biggest obstacle in his life.

* * *

 

Lance spent an embarrassing amount of time figuring out how to propose to Shiro. He thought about taking him to a nice restaurant, maybe enjoy a night alone before kneeling down. But the thought of embarrassing himself in front of a bunch of people _in_ the restaurant made him strike that idea off. He also thought about proposing with a scavenger hunt, but he quickly realized that he had no idea of whether Shiro was well versed in traveling through Seattle, so he also took that one off.

Eventually he settled for probably one of the most simple ideas he could’ve come up with: wrapping up the ring box and placing it with the many presents under the Christmas tree. Honestly, Lance would rather be rejected inside of their house rather than in front of hundreds of people. 

The entire time he was wrapping the tiny box his hands were shaking. He had to redo it all over again multiple times because it needed to be perfect. The bows that they had stashed away were slightly bigger than the box, making the gift look slightly awkward. After trying to fiddle with it for fifteen minutes, Lance sighed, slapping a gift tag on it and writing Shiro’s name on it.

Finally, on the day of Christmas, Lance was woken by a very giggly girl and an equally giggly man poking at him to get up. He lazily swatted away their hands, opening his eyes slightly.

“Can I help you?”

Shiro smiled at him, shaking his shoulders slightly. “It’s Christmas. Misaki wants to go and open some gifts,”

Lance sighed dramatically, flopping his arms on the bed. After a couple of seconds he sat up, a tired grin resting on his face. “Alright you oversized puppy, let’s go.”

They watched as Misaki ran down the stairs, squealing in delight when she saw the presents under the tree. It took about twenty minutes for her to finish opening up her presents, and once she was done, she immediately went to play with her new toys which included: two new dolls, a gigantic dollhouse, a toy car, and one of those mini toy ovens with plastic food.

Shiro went over to pick up the excess wrapping paper when he noticed one tiny gift left sitting underneath the tree. Picking it up, he noticed his name on the side of it. Looking towards Lance, he pointed at the gift.

“This is for me?”

Lance shrugged his shoulders, trying his best to keep his nerves at bay. “I don’t know. Open it and see what Santa got you.”

Shiro rolled his eyes, setting down the wrapping paper mess for a minute. After carefully peeling off the wrapping paper he looked at the tiny black box in his hands. Opening it slowly, he felt his mouth open, tears beginning to prick at the corners of his eyes.

Lance got up and sat next to him, gently plucking the box out of his hands and getting onto his knee. “Now listen, I know that we’ve never really talked about marriage before, and it’s totally fine if you just want to keep our relationship like this.”

“But I love you so much and I’ve been planning this for a while and I had a whole speech planned but now I can’t seem to remember anything.”

Shiro laughed at this, which caused Lance to smile before continuing. “What I do know is that there’s no one else I’d rather spend my life with, and I’m not just saying that because we’re soulmates and you’re kinda stuck with me. You’re the most genuine person that I’ve ever met, and you’re just so kind and caring. I honestly don’t know what I did in a past life to get you, but I know that I’m happier than I’ve ever been before.”

“So what I’m trying to say is: will you marry me?”

Shiro sat there for a while, tears freely flowing down his cheeks. Before Lance could take what he said back Shiro tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly.

“Of course I’ll marry you!”

Lance wheezed, patting Shiro’s back. “Hey babe, I get you’re happy and all, but I can’t _breathe_ ,”

Shiro sat up with a sheepish smile. He gave his hand to Lance, who slid on the ring, silently breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that it fit perfectly. Running his finger over it, Lance laughed, resting his head against Shiro’s.

“You know,” he started, a smile on his face, “I always imagined that I’d propose at such a romantic place, with the sunset in view and a planned speech in my mind. I never thought that I’d propose on Christmas morning in the most basic way imaginable.”

Shiro huffed out a laugh, pressing a kiss to his temple. “Well, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Lance felt content. Of course, this was far from what he thought his family would be, but he definitely wouldn’t change it for the world.

And he couldn’t wait to get married to Shiro and live his unusual life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an alternate ending to this was that lance never forgave shiro and shiro died of the hanahaki disease bc people kept telling me that those chapters were shit so i wanted to be a bitch and write an angsty ending  
> but i'm a fluffy bitch who needs happy endings to thrive  
> but remember what could've happened

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments are appreciated :)


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